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Life  of 

Gen.  Benjamin  Harrison. 

A Full  Account  of  his  Ancestry,  Boyhood,  Early  Struggles,  Mar- 
riage, and  Recent  Political  Triumphs, 

With  a Sketch  of  the  Life  and  Public  Services  of 

WHITELAW  REID, 

Together  with  Both  Sides  of  the  Question 

Protection  and  Free  Trade. 

PROTECTION 

BY 

Hon.  JAMES  Q.  BLAINE, 

Ex-Secretary  of  State. 

VALUE  OF  PROTECTION 

BY 

Hon.  WM.  M’KINLEY,  Jr., 

Governor  of  Ohio. 

FREE  TRADE 

BY 

The  Rt.  Hon.  W.  E.  GLADSTONE, 

Ex-Premier  of  England. 

To  which  is  appended  a full  account  of  the  National  Convention,  Minneapolis, 
June  7-10,  1892,  with  Republican  Platform  Adopted. 

Sketches  of  the  Lives  of  all  the  Presidents  of  the  United  States, 
from  Washington  to  Harrison,  with  Portraits. 

ALSO 

Reciprocity;  The  Silver  Question;  Behring  Sea 
and  Chilian  Questions. 


SOLD  BY  SUBSCRIPTION  ONLY. 


CHICAGO,  ILL.  PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 


Entered  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1892, 
ByJ.  W.  SHEPP, 

In  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


All  rights  reserved. 


NOTICE. 

The  articles  contained  in  this  book,  written  by  Hon.  James  G.  Blaine,  Hon  Wm,  M’Kinley 
and  Rt.  Hon.  W.  b.  Gladstone,  are  original  matter  obtained  and  furnished  by  Mr.  Lloyd  Bryce, 
Editor  and  Proprietor  of  the  North  American  Review,  and  secured  by  Copyright,  singly  and 
collectively,  and  any  attempt  at  infringement  will  be  rigidly  and  immediately  prosecuted. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I. 

ANCESTRY. 

Harrison  the  Roundhead — Harrison  the  Soldier — Life  in  a Log 
Cabin — On  the  Threshold — Oratory  Extraordinary. 

CHAPTER  II. 

EARLY  LIFE. 

Boyhood’s  Days — A Noble  Mother — Chores  and  Ambitions — 
The  Sunday  Dinner— The  Family  Bible — Going  to  School 
— Boyish  Pranks — The  Earnest  Student — A Will  and  a 
Way — The  Shadow  Before. 

CHAPTER  III. 

AT  THE  FOUNT  OF  KNOWLEDGE. 

College  and  its  Memories — Chums  and  Classmates — Anecdotes 
— Never  at  a Loss — Professors — A Wild  Night — Daring 
Escapades — A Close  Student — Midnight  Oil — Good-bye 
to  College. 


CONTENTS. 


5 


CHAPTER  VII. 

LIFE  OF  THE  VICE-PRESIDENT. 

Simple  Early  Life — Personal  Characteristics  as  a Boy — Always 
Reliable — Pleasing  Manners — Courtesy  Costs  Nothing, 
but  is  Worth  More  than  Gold — Always  to  the  Front  in  Good 
Works — Business  Life — Sympathy  with  the  Distressed 
— A People's  Man — Political  Life — Chosen  Vice-President. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

FREE  COINAGE  OF  SILVER. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

LIFE  OF  GLADSTONE. 

Biographical  Sketch  of  Rt.  Hon.  W.  E.  Gladstone,  Ex-Premier 
of  England. 


CHAPTER  X. 

FREE  TRADE 
BY 

Rt.  HON.  W.  E.  GLADSTONE. 

Apology  for  the  Article — An  Old  Friend  with  a New  Face — 
British  Wages — Protection  Viewed  in  its  First  Aspects — 
Relation  Between  Protection  and  High  Wages — On  the 
Reason,  Why  Protection  only  Injures  and  does  not  Ruin 
the  United  States — Moral  Aspect  of  the  Question. 


6 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XL 

LIFE  OF  JAMES  G.  BLAINE. 

Biographical  Sketch  of  Hon.  James  G.  Blaine,  Ex-Secretary  of 
State,  U.  S.  A. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

PROTECTION 

BY 

HON.  JAMES  G.  BLAINE. 

Americans  Honor  Gladstone--England’s  Meat,  other  Nations’ 
Poison — Why  England  was  Content — Financial  Disaster — 
Value  of  Protection  During  the  War — Carrying  the  War 
into  the  Enemies,  Camps — Gladstone’s  Moral  Plea  Faulty 
— His  Great  Error. 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  M’KINLEY,  JR. 

Biographical  Sketch  of  Hon.  Wm.  M’Kinley,  Jr.,  Governor  of 
Ohio. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

VALUE  OF  PROTECTION 
BY 

HON.  WM.  M’KINLEY,  JR. 

GOVERNOR  OF  OHIO. 

We  Shall  Always  Have  Tariffs — The  Sole  Question  at  Issue — 
What  the  Protective  System  Has  Accomplished — Revenue 
Tariff  a Failure — A Few  Facts. 


CONTENTS. 


7 


CHAPTER  XV. 

PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Biographical  Sketches  of  all  the  Presidents  of  the  United  States, 
from  Washington  to  Harrison. 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

CONVENTION  AT  MINNEAPOLIS. 

The  Great  Convention — Minneapolis  in  Gala  Attire — In  Hotels 
and  Boarding-Houses — Personnel  of  the  Delegates — The 
Magnificent  Auditorium — He  Eulogizes  His  Party — Etc., 
Etc.,  Etc. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

RECIPROCITY. 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE  BEHRING  SEA  QUESTION. 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE  CHILIAN  QUESTION. 


Life  of 


Benjamin  Harrison. 


CHAPTER  I. 


Ancestry. 

It  has  been  very  cleverly  said  that  “ every 
man  is  the  father  of  his  own  future,”  and,  in  a measure, 
this  is  true,  but,  after  all,  it  is  worth  something  and 
counts  for  much  in  the  struggle  toward  eminence,  that 
one  is  able  to  point  to  ancestors  who  have  loomed 
above  the  mediocre  multitude,  and  whose  fairly-won 
laurels  a nation  loves  to  keep  green  with  the  dew  of 
affectionate  recollection.  Benjamin  Harrison,  the  sub- 
ject of  our  sketch,  was  emphatically  well-born.  If  it 
be  true  that  “the  education  of  a child  should  begin 
one  hundred  years  before  its  birth,”  he  is  certainly 
unusually  blessed  in  the  matter  of  pre-natal  education. 

university  of 

ILLINOIS  LIBRARY 


12 


Life  of  Benjamin  Harrison. 


Harrison  the  Roundhead. 

Early  in  the  sixteenth  century  we  catch  our  first 
glimpse  of  the  stock  from  which  Benjamin  Harrison 
sprung.  For  many  years  the  Puritan  sentiment  had 
been  growing  among  the  middle  and  lower  classes  of 
Englishmen,  while  the  aristocracy  grew  more  and  more 
arrogant  and  tyrannical.  When  James  I.  became  king, 
his  loudly-iterated  doctrine  of  the  Divine  Right  of  Sover- 
eigns, and  his  determined  support  of  the  English  hier- 
archy, bitterly  offended  the  grave  and  liberty-loving 
Puritans,  whose  stern  piety  soon  took  on  a strong 
political  character.  Charles  I.,  who  succeeded  James, 
carried  his  father’s  ideas  to  their  utmost  limit,  and  by 
the  abuse  of  the  royal  prerogative,  especially  in  mat- 
ters of  taxation,  arrayed  the  majority  in  Parliament 
against  him.  Parliament  after  Parliament  was  dis- 
solved, but  as  one  succeeded  another,  the  battle  was 
kept  up  until  open  war  was  declared  between  the 
sovereign  and  the  aristocrats  (then  first  called  cavaliers) 
on  one  side  and  the  Puritans  or  Roundheads  on  the 
other — the  latter  being,  practically,  the  representatives 
of  the  Parliament  and  people.  Oliver  Cromwell  was 
one  of  the  first  great  military  leaders  to  force  his  way  to 
the  front.  With  his  dreaded  “Ironsides,”  he  became  the 
terror  of  the  cavaliers  and  seemed  invincible.  Among 
his  troops  was  a man  who  had  once  followed  the 
trade  of  a butcher,  and  who  soon  attracted  the  atten- 
tion of  Cromwell,  himself  the  son  of  a brewer  in  Hunt- 
ington ; this  man’s  name  was  Thomas  Harrison,  and 


I*ife  of  Benjamin  Harrison 


13 


ere  long  his  bravery  and  military  genius  won  for  him 
the  position  of  Lieutenant-General.  He  was  a mem- 
ber of  the  Parliamentary  Court  appointed  to  try 
Charles  I.  for  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors,  and  we 
find  his  signature  attached  to  the  sentence  of  death 
pronounced  against  that  sovereign.  On  the  restora- 
tion of  Charles  II.,  Thomas  Harrison  was  tried  and 
convicted  as  a regicide,  and  suffered  execution.  It  is 
proof  of  the  cool  courage  of  the  man,  and  the  sense 
that  he  had  only  performed  his  duty,  that  kept  him  in 
England  when  America  might  easily  have  afforded  him 
refuge.  Thomas  Harrison  was  an  ancestor  of  Ben- 
jamin Harrison  who  possesses  many  of  the  former’s 
traits. 

Harrison  the  Patriot. 

The  next  Harrison  of  note  is  Benjamin,  who  was  one 
of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 
That  he  fully  understood  the  consequences  of  his  act, 
in  case  of  the  failure  of  the  cause  of  the  colonies,  is 
clearly  shown  by  his  amusing  remark  to  Elbridge 
Gerry,  of  Massachusetts,  a tall,  slim  man,  that  “when 
the  hanging  scene  came,  he  would  be  dead  in  a few 
minutes,  while  Gerry  would  be  kicking  in  the  air.” 
Harrison  was  frequently  called  upon  to  "fill  positions 
of  trust,  was  in  Congress  until  1778,  was  elected  to 
the  Virginia  Legislature  several  times,  and  in  1782 
became  Governor  of  the  State,  being  re-elected  to  that 
office  until  the  Constitution  rendered"  him  ineligible. 


CHAPTER  II. 


Life  in  a Log  Cabin. 

Benjamin  Harrison  was  born  at  North  Bend, 
Ohio,  on  the  old  homestead,  August  20,  1833.  PIN 
was  the  healthy  out-door  life  of  the  ordinary  American 
boy.  Removed  from  the  luxuries  and  temptations  of 
crowded  cities,  he  grew  up  in  love  with  nature  and 
nature’s  God.  The  broad  Ohio  flowed  placidly  past 
the  door  of  his  father’s  house,  a deep,  strong,  silent 
river,  splendidly  symbolical  of  the  strong,  earnest 
character  of  the  future  President.  The  farm  on  which 
he  lived  was  fair  and  fertile,  and  produced  within  its 
boundaries  nearly  everything  required  for  the  comfort 
of  the  family.  Young  Benjamin  early  learned  the 
need  of  labor.  As  a boy  he  performed  his  part  of  the 
chores  on  the  farm.  He  drove  the  mild-eyecl  cows  to 
and  from  the  pasture,  and  carried  the  foaming  pails  of 
milk  to  the  dairy.  He  tossed  the  fragrant  hay  in  the 
meadow  and  gathered  the  golden  and  rosy  spoil  of 
autumn  in  the  orchard.  He  grew  up  quiet  and  con- 
templative, a grave  young  David  of  the  Miami.  Many 
strangers  visited  the  old  homestead,  a little  distance 
away,  but  he  came  in  contact  with  very  few  of  them. 
Close  by  his  father’s  house  was  a little  log  cabin,  used 
as  a school-house.  It  was  furnished  with  the  most 


i6 


L, ife  of  Benjamin  Harrison. 


primitive  simplicity.  No  modern  desks  were  there  for 
the  convenience  of  scholars.  The  seats  were  rude 
slabs  set  upon  blocks,  had  no  backs  against  which  one 
could  lean.  The  building  was  fully  in  keeping  with 
the  furniture,  unpainted  without,  unplastered  within, 
and  with  only  nature’s  floor,  it  was  indeed  a very  rude 
temple  of  knowledge  ; but  it  answered  every  purpose, 
and  was  the  first  workshop  in  which  young  Benjamin 
Harrison’s  mind  began  to  be  shaped.  The  distance 
to  other  schools  was  far  too  great  for  the  farmers’  boys 
of  the  neighborhood,  so  many  of  them  also  attended 
the  little  log  cabin.  Full  of  sturdy  health  and  boyish 
spirits,  they  were  excellent  companions  for  Benjamin, 
and  many  a hunt  after  birds’  nests  and  wild  bees’  nests 
they  had  together.  When  the  old  cabin  began  to  let 
in  the  sunshine  and  the  rain  a little  too  liberally,  the 
school  was  removed  to  a room  in  Benjamin’s  father’s 
house,  and  here  he  trod  the  path  of  learning  until  he  was 
fourteen  years  old.  His  father  was  a strict  church- 
goer, and  early  instructed  his  children  in  their  religious 
duties.  In  those  days  parents  did  not  regard  the 
Sabbath  school  as  furnishing  a means  of  relief  from 
their  obligation  to  instruct  their  little  ones  in  Divine 
Truth,  but  devoted  strict  personal  attention  to  it. 
Benjamin  soon  learned  to  love  the  Bible  and  to  obey 
its  precepts,  and  owes  much  of  the  respect  in  which  he 
is  held  to-day  to  his  splendid  moral  training.  But  his 
Sabbath  recollections  are  not  only  of  the  church  in 
which  he  “heard  the  parson  pray  and  preach,”  for  that 


CHAPTER  III. 


On  the  Threshold. 

We  now  see  Benjamin  Harrison,  a young  man  of 
eighteen,  with  a more  than  ordinarily  good  education, 
of  fine  moral  character  and  bright  intelligence — small, 
slim,  with  an  eager  face  well  set  off  by  bright,  earnest 
eyes.  He  is  in  love,  and  that  with  a girl  whose  father 
holds  a good  position  and  is  much  respected.  Now, 
love  operates  in  two  ways — it  either  totally  destroys 
all  desire  for  advancement,  utterly  encircling  the  soul 
in  dreams  and  fantasies,  or  it  nerves  a man  to  work, 
and  furnishes  a splendid  stimulus  for  his  ambition. 
The  latter  was  the  case  with  Benjamin  Harrison. 
Some  turn  to  poetry,  he  turned  to  law.  He  was  with- 
out means,  and  could  have  no  expectations  from  his 
father,  whose  financial  affairs  were  terribly  embar- 
rassed ; though  he  was  the  possessor  of  a good  farm, 
and  was  himself  an  industrious  and  intelligent  farmer, 
his  easy  and  generous  disposition  led  him  to  trust 
many  worthless  persons,  until  nothing  was  left  to  him 
of  his  original  property.  He  endorsed  the  notes  of 
his  neighbors  and  borrowed  for  his  own  necessities. 
He  would  have  been  left  homeless  only  for  the  kind- 
ness of  his  relatives  who  continued  him  on  the  farm. 
Thus,  at  an  early  age,  Benjamin  was  taught  the  folly 


MRS.  BENJAMIN  HARRISON. 


20 


I^ife  of  Benjamin  Harrison, 


of  trusting  promiscuously,  and,  no  doubt,  his  father’s 
humiliation  was  a good  lesson  to  him  in  after  years. 
Harrison  had  not  been  trained  with  any  view  to  a 
definite  profession,  but  his  turning  to  the  law  seemed 
the  most  natural  thing  to  do  under  the  circumstances. 
First,  it  was  an  eminently  respectable  profession,  and 
kept  him  in  a social  class  similar  to  that  of  the  young 
lady  of  his  choice;  and,  secondly,  the  chances  for  pre- 
ferment were  great.  His  knowledge  of  the  history 
of  the  country  showed  him  that  many  lawyers  had 
attained  eminence ; that  many,  even  most,  of  the  Presi- 
dents of  the  United  States  had  practiced  that  profes- 
sion, added  to  which,  it  would  enable  him  to  secure  a 
respectable  livelihood  in  the  shortest  possible  time. 
Having  then  determined  upon  his  profession,  his  next 
move  was  to  enter  the  office  of  some  truly  able  lawyer. 
Many  young  men  have  failed  just  here  ; they  seek  as 
their  instructors  either  men  'of  little  note  who  can  do 
little  toward  advancing  them,  or  men  of  practice  so 
large  as  to  ensure  the  neglect  of  students  altogether. 
Some,  again,  choose  those  who  will  be  lenient  with  them, 
and  not  keep  them  too  closely  confined  to  work.  It 
was  far  otherwise  with  Harrison.  He  entered  the 
office  of  two  of  the  most  honorable  and  able  lawyers 
in  Ohio — the  firm  of  Stover  & Gwynne,‘of  Cincin- 
nati. These  gentlemen  paid  every  attention  to  the 
young  student,  and  he  made  rapid  progress  ; but  all 
this  time  his  heart  was  with  his  lady-love.  Poor  as  he 
was,  he  knew  that  she  had  every  confidence  in  his 


CHAPTER  X. 


Oratory  Extraordinary. 

Perhaps  the  most  severe  test  to  which  the  genius 
of  President  Harrison  has  yet  been  put,  was  on  the 
wonderful  journey  of  ten  thousand  miles,  made  by  rail, 
through  the  United  States,  from  April  14  to  May  15, 
1891.  At  almost  every  place  of  consequence  the 
President  was  called  upon  for  an  address,  and  he 
responded  with  such  felicity  and  dealt  with  such  a wide 
range  of  subjects,  that  a burst  of  admiring  acclaim 
rang  throughout  the  country.  The  people  of  the 
southern  States  were  as  charmed  with  the  tact  and 
courtesy  of  the  man  as  were  the  men  of  his  own  west. 
He  did  not  disdain  to  give  words  of  cheer  to  the  Indians 
who  came  to  see  him,  and  his  kindly  words  warmed 
the  hearts  of  the  colored  people,  and  cheered  them  on 
the  rough  way  toward  civilization.  Just  think  of  it — 
dashing  through  the  most  magnificent  scenery  on  the 
face  of  the  earth,  in  a splendid  train  such  as  the  most 
opulent  eastern  potentate  never  even  dreamed  of,  over 
thousands  of  miles  of  territory,  teeming  with  vigorous 
life,  spangled  with  glorious  farms,  flecked  with  almost 
countless  herds  of  cattle,  ribboned  with  rivers  of  gleam- 
ing silver,  and  jeweled  with  glittering  lakes  flung  down 
like  giants’ shields  on  a mighty  battle-field,  while  Titanic 


Life  of  Benjamin  Harrison. 


25 


referring  to  the  great  development  of  mineral  wealth 
and  the  stream  of  immigration  pouring  into  the  State ; 
he  spoke  of  the  blessings  of  the  restored  Union,  ot  the 
joy  he  felt  in  seeing  all  render  homage  to  the  regality  of 
the  Constitution,  and  of  his  great  desire  to  evince  in 
his  lofty  station  the  qualities  of  a loyal  servant  of 
the  people.  He  showed  how  much  grander  were 
the  triumphs  of  peace  over  those  of  war,  and  how 
true  were  Whittier’s  words,  that 

“ Peace  hath  higher  tests  of  manhood 
Than  battle  ever  knew.,, 


The  people  of  Tennessee  rose  as  one  man  to  honor 
their  President;  his  words  were  so  true,  so  gentle,  so 
full  of  warm,  brotherly  kindness  and  homely  wisdom, 
that  mountaineers  and  lowlanders  alike  found  him  a 
man  after  their  own  hearts.  In  Georgia  he  was 
welcomed  by  the  Governor  and  principal  officers  in  the 
most  hospitable  manner.  He  addressed  the  boys  of 
the  night  school  in  Atlanta,  and  in  other  places  spoke 
on  the  freedom  of  elections,  and  the  duty  of  the  people 
to  educate  their  children  in  the  fear  of  God.  Loyal 
Georgia,  he  said,  was  a sight  to  move  his  profound 
admiration  and  gratitude  to  God.  He  cheered  the 
hearts  of  the  people  of  Alabama  by  the  evidence  he 
gave  of  his  knowledge  of  the  advance  and  needs  of  the 
State.  He  went  from  cotton  to  watermelons,  from 
town  lots  in  Birmingham  to  the  shipping  question,  with 
an  evident  grasp  of  the  subject  that  appealed  to  the 


26 


Life  of  Benjamin  Harrison. 


most  practical.  He  discussed  harbors,  reciprocity 
and  commerce  in  Texas,  and  did  not  forget  to  mention 
the  coming  benefits  of  the  Nicaragua  Canal.  At  El 
Paso  he  addressed  a crowd  of  Americans,  Indians,  and 
Mexicans.  On  the  platform,  beside  him,  was  seen  the 
Governor  of  the  Mexican  State  of  Chihuahua,  who 
was  commissioned  by  President  Diaz,  of  Mexico,  to 
present  his  compliments  to  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  a grateful  charge  most  gracefully  per- 
formed. President  Harrison  seized  the  opportunity  to 
express  a hope  that  there  might  be  a great  development 
of  commercial  relations  between  the  two  republics, 
and  charmed  all  with  his  modesty  and  good  sense.  At 
Lordsburg,  New  Mexico,  he  was  presented  by  the 
citizens  with  a beautiful  case  of  silver,  mined  in  the 
vicinity,  and  in  exchange  left  behind  him  golden  opin- 
ions. The  people  of  Arizona  turned  out  to  welcome 
him  as  his  train  dashed  through,  and  at  his  first  stop 
in  California  he  was  presented  with  an  address  by 
Chief  Cabazon,  head  of  the  Indio  tribe  of  Indians  ; Ca- 
bazon  is  over  100  years  old.  At  San  Diego,  Governor 
Torres  of  Lower  California,  met  President  Harrison 
and  again  presented  him  with  the  good  wishes  of  Pres- 
ident Diaz,  of  Mexico,  to  which  Mr.  Harrison  made  a 
most  happy  reply,  emphasizing  the  respect  in  which 
President  Diaz  is  held  in  the  United  States,  and  his 
wish  that  cordial  relations  might  always  endure 
between  the  sister  republics.  Glorious  California  re- 
sponded gloriously  to  President  Harrison’s  ringing 


* 


WHITELAW  REID 


Life  of 


Hon.  Whitelaw  Reid. 


About  a mile  from  White  Plains,  New  York, 
stands  a palatial  residence,  surrounded  by  about  eight 
hundred  acres  of  as  lovely  meadow  and  woodland  as 
can  be  seen  in  the  fair  Empire  State.  The  place  is 
known  as  the  Ophir  Farm,  and  the  residence  cost  over 
one  million  ofdollars.  Without,  itis  astatelypile ; within, 
the  abode  of  luxury.  Its  furnishings  are  of  the  most 
sumptuous  order,  and  the  recent  works  of  art  are 
scattered  about  in  bewildering  opulence.  Such  is  the 
home  of  Hon.  Whitelaw  Reid,  whose  nomination  for 
the  vice-presidency,  by  the  Republican  National 
Convention,  has  caused  such  widespread  satisfac- 
tion throughout  the  country.  Mr.  Reid  has  just 
returned  from  Paris,  where,  as  Minister  to  France,  he 
had  won  golden  opinions,  and  a round  of  banquets 
and  speech-making  had  rendered  rest  desirable,  when, 
without  any  effort  on  his  own  part,  and  almost  without 
an  inkling  to  the  country  at  large,  he  is  nominated 


Life  of  Hon.  Whitelaw  Reid. 


for  the  second  place  on  the  Republican  ticket.  His 
friends  and  neighbors  were  almost  wild  with  enthu- 
siasm, and  hundreds  visited  him  at  his  lovely  home 
within  a short  time  after  the  arrival  of  the  news.  Mr. 
Reid  was  doubly  delighted  ; first,  with  the  honor  shown 
him,  and,  next,  with  the  interest  of  his  friends.  It 
speaks  well  for  his  candid  nature  and  for  the  spirit  that 
he  will. bring  into  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  his 
high  office,  that  he  so  frankly  expresses  his  satisfaction 
at  the  favor  shown  him.  When  the  citizens  arrived, 
Mr.  Reid  was  still  at  table  with  that  most  genial 
gentleman,  Colonel  John  Hay,  well-known  as  poet  and 
politician.  Mr.  Reid  came  out  on  the  balcony  and  said  : 

“ Friends  and  Neighbors : It  gives  me  great  pleasure 
to  receive  this  cordial  welcome  home,  after  a long  ab- 
sence abroad,  and  I am  proud  to  be  with  you.  I am 
standing  on  historic  ground,  which  you  are  probably 
better  acquainted  with  than  I am.  I understand  this 
is  purely  a welcome  from  the  citizens  of  White  Plains, 
irrespective  of  party,  and  I will  not  detain  you  with 
any  speech  from  a partisan  standpoint ; but  if  you 
will  permit  me  to  make  a remote  reference  to  politics, 
I will  say  that  I am  a Republican  from  way  back.” 

Mr.  Reid  then  told  his  friends  and  neighbors 
how  much  pleased  he  was  to  meet  them,  Repub- 
licans and  Democrats.  These  remarks  were  fol- 
lowed with  an  apology  for  not  being  able  to  receive 
his  guests  as  he  would  like.  He  said  that  he  had 
been  at  home  for  a week  only,  but  if  the  callers  would 


Life  of  Hon.  Wliitela-w  Reid. 


step  into  the  house,  Mrs.  Reid  and  himself  would  be 
pleased  to  receive  them. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Reid  then  took  a place  in  the  great 
onyx  hall,  and  were  there  made  acquainted  with  nearly 
all  of  their  neighbors  whom  they  did  not  already  know. 

It  is  a curious  fact  that  Mr.  Morton,  the  present 
Vice-President,  is  a millionaire,  and  Mr.  Reid,  though 
not  so  wealthy,  is  worth  more  than  a million  dollars. 
Only  two  of  the  Presidents  of  the  United  States  have 
left  the  office  worth  more  than  $ 100,000 , so  that  two 
millionaire  Vice-Presidents  in  succession  is  something 
of  a coincidence.  Mr.  Reid’s  home  is  one  of  the  most 
imposing  structures  in  the  State.  It  is  built  of  grey 
granite,  after  Mr.  Reid’s  own  designs,  and  should 
properly  be  called  a castle,  as  it  is  in  the  old  Norman 
baronial  style.  A view  of  Long  Island  Sound  for  forty 
miles  can  be  had  from  the  windows.  Whitelaw  Reid 
was  born  in  Xenia,  Ohio,  in  October,  1837;  thus  the 
State  of  Grant,  Hayes,  and  Garfield,  claims  him  as  her 
son.  His  ancestors  were  Scotch,  his  mother  being  of 
the  blood  of  the  Clan  Ronald,  a powerful  highland 
family.  His  paternal  grandfather,  also  of  Scotch 
blood,  emigrated  to  this  country  late  in  the  last  cen- 
tury, and  settled  in  Kentucky,  among  the  first  of  those 
whose  heroism  has  made  memorable  “the  dark  and 
bloody  ground.”  Early  in  1800,  he  removed  to  the 
neighborhood  of  what  is  now  Cincinnati,  and  bargained 
for  some  land  near  the  river.  One  of  the  terms  of  the 
sale  was,  that  he  should  run  a ferryboat  across  the 


Life  of  Hon.  Whitelaw  Reid. 


river  on  Sabbath  days.  Old  Mr.  Reid  was  a Cove- 
nanter and  rigid  as  all  such  men  then  were.  His 
conscience  troubled  him.  He  felt  that  he  could  not 
sell  his  principles  for  money,  and  though  the  place 
he  had  purchased  was  exceedingly  desirable,  he  gave 
it  up  rather  than  run  that  ferryboat  and  offend  his 
God.  It  is  worth  while  to  be  born  of  a race  like  this, 
and  Mr.  Reid  is  no  degenerate  scion  of  this  splendid 
stock.  His  grandfather  then  settled  near  Xenia,  in 
Greene  County,  Ohio,  becoming  one  of  the  earliest 
settlers  in  that  part  of  the  State.  Here  Whitelaw  was 
born.  Mr.  Reid  was  not  only  fortunate  in  his  parents, 
but  also  in  his  preceptor,  Rev.  Hugh  McClintock,  D.  D., 
a Covenanter  and  a God-fearing,  scholarly  man.  Young 
Whitelaw  attended  the  academy  at  Xenia,  and  was 
aided  in  his  studies  by  Mr.  McClintock,  who  was  his 
uncle.  Though  his  parents  were  far  from  rich,  they 
managed  to  scrape  enough  money  together  to  send  the 
boy  to  college,  so  that  at  nineteen  years  of  age  he 
entered  Miami  College,  about  four  years  after  Benjamin 
Harrison  left  the  institution.  Thus,  oddly  enough,  the 
two  candidates  had  the  same  Alma  Mater,  and  it  is  quite 
certain  that  the  training  which  has  rendered  the  Presi- 
dent such  a safe  and  able  man,  has  had  the  same  effect 
on  Whitelaw  Reid 


THE  GREAT  CONVENTION. 


If  there  was  ever  a heaven  upon  earth, 

It  is  here  ! it  is  here  ! it  is  here  ! 

Scent  of  white  cherry  blossoms,  billowing'  in 
one  vast  perfumed  sea  out  toward  the  world-famed 
Falls  of  Minnehaha,  wide-spreading  prairie,  greener 
than  Ireland’s  boasted  fields,  and  starred  with  innum- 
erable flowers,  that  seem  to  have  burst  by  magic  from 
the  sod,  all  anxious  to  glorify  the  short  summer  with 
their  eager  beauty.  The  swift,  passionate  Mississippi, 
bordered  by  great  factories,  now  dashing  in  wild 
turbulence  over  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  and  now 
racing  along  as  though  eager  to  escape  the  hungry 
mills  that  depend  upon  its  power  to  move  their  vast 
machinery.  Triumphs  of  the  architect’s  skill  burst 
upon  you  in  the  most  unexpected  places,  not  ranged 
in  long  rows,  but  standing  singly,  revealing  every 
detail  in  that  marvellous  light  and  under  that  wonder- 
ful sky  of  which  an  Italian  may  dream,  but  never 
behold,  in  his  native  land  ; then  long,  long  streets, 
straight  as  a thought  of  God,  with  houses  surrounded 
by  velvet  lawns  and  bowered  in  a magical  wealth  of 
variegated  greenery.  You  may  walk  for  miles  along 
these  streets  and  ayenues,  and  still  the  same  charming 


REPUBLICAN  NATIONAL  CONVENTION  HALL, 
MINNEAPOLIS,  MINN. 


388 


Tlie  Great  Convention. 


view  will  greet  you.  Except  for  the  houses  of  the 
Poles  and  Bohemians,  in  the  lowlands  by  the  river, 
you  would  dream  that  poverty  had  been  banished  from 
this  lovely  spot.  On  both  sides  of  the  Mississippi 
rise  the  greatest  flour  mills  in  the  world,  which  turn 
out  30,000  barrels  a day,  and  lumber  mills  that  have 
in  one  year  manufactured  165,000,000  feet  of  lumber  ; 
no  wonder. the  palaces  of  the  business  men  of  Minne- 
apolis can  vie  with  those  of  European  princes.  When 
the  citizen  of  Minneapolis  retires  to  his  home,  he  leaves 
business  behind  him,  for  the  resident  and  business 
portions  of  the  city  .are  widely  separated.  The  streets 
at  night,  except  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  hotels,  are 
as  quiet  as  any  meditative  philosopher  could  wish  ; but 
all  this  is  changed  now,  the  city  is 

In  Gala  Attire, 

the  glorious  banner  of  the  Union  floats  from  houses 
and  tree-tops,  while  triumphal  arches,  decorated  with 
all  the  skill  at  the  disposal  of  an  ingenius  and  generous 
people,  tell  of  the  welcome  the  great  city  accords  to 
her  numerous  visitors.  The  hotels  are  one  fluttering 
mass  of  gorgeous  bunting;  the  West  House,  one  of 
the  finest  hostelries  on  earth,  looks  like  a May  queen 
risen  from  some  green  dell,  splendid  with  the  trickery 
of  fairy  drapery.  The  Nicollet  is  not  one  whit  less 
gay,  and  the  great  convention  building  is  in  a blaze  of 
glory.  It  is  Sunday,  June  5th,  and  the  quiet  city 
presents  a strange  scene — every  train  is  unloading 


The  Great  Convention. 


389 


its  shouting  contingent ; Harrison  and  Blaine  are  on 
every  lip  ; the  white  plume  of  Maine’s  great  son  floats 
on  the  breeze.  Enthusiasm  runs  wild — here  is  a 
group  singing  in  stentorian  tones  a song  evidently 
improvised  on  the  journey  hither: 

“ Let  every  honest  fellow  from  Maine  to  Oregon  ; 

Let  every  honest  fellow,  unless  he’s  a son  of  a gun, 

Let  every  honest  fellow,  unless  he’s  a son  of  a gun, 

Be  sure  and  cast  his  vote  for  Benjamin  Harrison.” 

And  here  comes  from  two  hundred  throats  the  wild 
reply — a reply  caught  up  along  the  streets  until 
“earth  and  her  waters  and  the  depths  of  air”  seem  to 
take  up  the  sound : 

“We  are  for  the  man  from  Maine, 

He  will  get  there  just  the  same  ; 

Pennsylvania  is  here  to  stay, 

And  she  stands  by  Matthew  Quay. 

Chorus. — Ta-ra-ra,  Boom-de-ay,  etc.” 

In  the  Hotels  and  Boarding  Houses. 

Men  and  even  women  shout  themselves  hoarse;  it 
is  all  they  have  to  do  ; the  real  business  is  being  settled 
by  quiet  groups  of  men  gathered  around  tables  in  the 
upper  rooms — earnest  men  who  know  what  they  are 
about  and  fence  with  each  other  like  skilled  swordsmen. 
There  is  no  over-crowding  yet,  but  every  place  seems 
full.  The  delegations  of  numerous  States  are  here — 
New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  New  Jersey,  Connecti- 
cut, California,  Minnesota,  Wisconsin,  and  also  those 
from  the  new  States  have  already  occupied  their  quar- 
ters. What  a jolly  set  of  fellows  they  are ! This  may  be 


,39° 


The  Great  Convention. 


a vast  country,  but  these  men  look  as  though  they  be- 
longed to  one  family.  The  same  nation  truly ; the  man 
from  New  Jersey  finds  a brother  in  the  man  from 
North  Dakota;  the  man  from  California  may  be  seen 
arm-in-arm  with  the  man  from  Connecticut.  The  States 
of  such  a nation  can  never  be  separated.  We  hear  of 
French,  German,  Italian  and  Spanish  cookery;  just 
look  at  these  men  around  the  tables,  they  eat,  eat,  eat 
and  never  trouble  about  the  cookery.  They  are  cook- 
ing another  dish  entirely,  and  hope  that  they  may  be 
able  to  put  the  Democratic  party  “in  the  soup”  this 
fall,  and  feel  sure  that  they  will,  and  all  seem  desirous 
that  Cleveland  may  furnish  the  soup-stock.  But  we 
are  interested  most  in  the 

Personnel  of  the  Delegates ; 

that  is,  of  the  more  prominent  men  who  are  here  this 
June  Sabbath — here  is  a group  of  Blaine  leaders — 
Tom  Platt  of  New  York,  dapper  as  a tailor’s  clerk, 
and  cool  as  the  shaggy  hide  of  a polar  bear.  We 
remember  when,  with  the  lordly  Conkling,  he  passed 
out  of  the  Senate,  and  how  he  failed  of  re-election. 
Oh,  how  innocent  he  looks!  But  beware!  oh,  beware! 

“ Trust  him  not,  he  is  fooling  thee, 

Beware  ! oh,  beware  !” 

Then,  here  is  Foraker  of  Ohio,  a little  greyer  than 
when  we  saw  him  last,  riding  with  the  men  of  the  Grand 
Army  in  Washington,  but  fiery  still,  full  of  nervous 
power  and  force ; he  is  flame  to  Platt’s  ice — a wonderful 


392 


"File  Great  Convention. 


This  morning,  June  6th,  they  had  a little  fracas,  which 
has  been  greatly  magnified  by  rumor.  The  Blaine  men 
were  marching  up  the  street,  carrying  a banner  bearing 
the  name  of  the  Plumed  Knight,  when  one  of  the  other 
side  dashed  in  and  fried  to  snatch  it  away.  A little 
girl  held  it,  however,  and  lifted  it  out  of  reach  of  the 
enemy,  amid  wild  cheers  for  Blaine  and  the  young  lady ; 
the  matter  was  soon  hushed  up,  however.  There  is 
still  much  doubt  as  to  who  will  be  temporary  chairman. 
Two  names  are  much  discussed,  those  of  Hon.  J.  Sloat 
Fassett,  who  ran  for  Governor  of  New  York  last  fall, 
and  was  beaten  by  the  Tammany  candidate,  and  Gen- 
eral Horace  Porter,  whose  wonderful  energy  has  re- 
sulted in  raising  $350,000  for  the  Grant  monument. 
The  latter  is,  however,  the  more  highly  favored  by  both 
parties,  as  Fassett  is  supposed  by  the  Harrison  men 
to  be  too  strongly  in  favor  of  Blaine.  Fassett’s  nomi- 
nation will  mean  that  Blaine  is  ahead. 

The  Magnificent  Auditorium 

will  seat  at  least  ten  thousand  people.  It  was  originally 
intended  for  an  exhibition  building,  but  is  marvellously 
adapted  for  its  present  use.  The  decorations  are  be- 
yond all  description.  The  building  was  crowded  to  its 
utmost  capacity  on  the  occasion  of  its  dedication,  on  the 
night  of  June  6th.  The  dedicatory  speech  was  made  by 
Hon.  Chauncey  M.  Depew  of  New  York.  He  said : 

“ Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : It  has  been  my  privilege 
to  voice  the  spirit  and  meaning  of  the  occasion  at  the 


RECIPROCITY. 


The  idea  of  an  American  Zollverein  is  by  no  means 
a new  one.  Yet,  as  the  dev-elopment  of  the  idea  was 
reserved  for  Mr.  Blaine,  he  may  fairly  be  considered 
as  the  father  of  the  movement.  He  first  proposed  it 
in  1 88 1,  when  he  was  Secretary  of  State  in  Garfield’s 
Cabinet,  but  the  assassination  of  that  President  led  to 
its  postponement  until  Mr.  Blaine  came  once  more 
into  office.  The  first  idea  was  to  limit  the  negotiations 
to  the  settlement  of  all  difficulties  that  might  arise 
between  American  nations,  but  when  the  matter  was 
again  taken  up,  this  plan  was  broadened  to  include 
many  commercial  questions.  Mexico,  Venezuela, 
Guatemala,  Colombia,  Nicaragua,  Peru,  Chili,  Brazil 
and  the  Argentine  Republic  accredited  as  delegates 
their  resident  ministers ; Colombia,  Venezuela,  the 
Argentine  Republic  and  Brazil  sent  each  two  more 
delegates,  while  Chili  and  Mexico  added  only  one 
apiece  to  their  usual  representatives  in  Washington. 
Honduras,  Ecuador  and  Bolivia,  Salvador,  Costa  Rica, 
Uraguay  and  Paraguay,  as  also  Hayti,  sent  accredited 
envoys,  though  the  views  of  these  representatives,  with 
respect  to  the  functions  of  the  congress,  were  by  no 
means  in  accord.  The  congress  met  October  2,  1889. 


Reciprocity, 


Mr.  James  G.  Blaine,  Secretary  of  State  for  the  United 
States,  was  chosen  president,  the  only  objection 
coming  from  the  two  Argentine  delegates.  This  was  the 
best  nomination  that  could  possibly  have  been  made,  as 
Mr.  Blaine  was  entrusted  to  negotiate,  with  full  powers, 
with  the  delegates,  and  his  purpose  was  to  secure,  by 
every  reasonable  effort,  the  success  of  the  congress. 
There  were  practically  two  subjects  before  the  con- 
gress— Arbitration  and  Reciprocity.  With  the  former 
this  article  has  nothing  to  do ; with  the  latter,  much. 
The  conference  agreed  that  to  establish  a customs 
union  in  the  sense  of  a great  American  Zollverein 
would,  under  existing  circumstances,  be  almost  impos- 
sible, but  that  the  promotion  of  trade  between  the 
respective  countries  could  be  best  served  by  reciproc- 
ity treaties.  While  such  treaties  had  been  made 
before,  notably  one  with  Mexico  in  1883,  which  prac- 
tically fell  through,  this  was  the  beginning  of  a definite 
system  of  reciprocal  trade.  Trade  must  necessarily  be 
of  mutual  advantage  to  the  seller  and  the  buyer ; the 
advantage  then  derived  from  trade  is  what  we  call 
reciprocity,  but  it  must,  in  its  nature,  be  of  equal,  or 
relatively  equal,  benefit  to  both  parties.  Obstructions 
in  the  way  of  consumer  and  producer  destroy  reciproc- 
ity, nor  can  true  reciprocity  exist  where  one  side  must 
do  all  the  buying  and  another  all  the  selling,  as  it  is 
clear  that  the  nation  that  sells  derives  the  greater  bene- 
fit from  the  profits  that  accrue  through  larger  produc- 
tion. Now,  an  illustration  of  this  maybe  found  in  our 


THE  BEHRING  SEA 
QUESTION. 


Over  one  hundred  years  ago,  Russia  came  into 
possession  of  the  Aleutian  Islands  and  the  territory  we 
at  present  call  Alaska.  The  region  appeared  cheerless 
and  inhospitable,  only  a few  half-starved  aboriginal 
tribes  wandering  over  its  vast  extent.  Its  value  to 
Russia  lay  in  the  vast  number  of  fur-bearing  animals 
it  contained,  many  of  them  of  the  most  valuable 
species,  such  as  otter,  mink,  sable,  marten,  and  fur 
seals.  At  this  time  such  animals,  especially  the  fur 
seal,  were  much  more  widely  distributed  over  the 
earth’s  surface.  Vast  rookeries  existed  in  Patagonia, 
Falkland  Islands,  Kerguelen  Land,  and  numerous 
islands  of  the  Antarctic  Seas.  Seals  could  be  counted 
there  by  millions,  but  the  ruthless  greed  and  improvi- 
dence of  the  hunters  has  entirely  destroyed  them,  so 
that  very  few  can  be  seen  on  those  wonderful  breeding 
grounds  to-day.  In  fact,  the  entire  supply  of  the  world 
is  now  dependent  upon  the  rookeries  in  Behring  Sea, 
the  Islands  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  George  in  the  Pribylor 
Group,  owned  by  the  United  States,  and  two  other 
islands,  owned  by  Russia,  the  Commander  Islands, 


The  Behring  Sea  Question. 


Behring  and  Copper  Islands,  near  the  Asiatic  shore. 
For  over  seventy  years  Russia  drew  her  supply  of  fur 
seals  from  this  source,  unmolested  by  any  intruding 
power.  The  Russian  fur  hunters  were  men  of  daring 
temper.  They  did  not  wait  to  build  commodious 
vessels,  nor  even  to  secure  sea-worthy  boats, 
but  dashed  into  the  enterprise  on  craft  little  better  than 
rafts,  flung  together  hastily  and  manned  by  as  wild  and 
roving  a body  eif  men  as  ever  drew  the  breath  of  life. 
Planks  were  tieV  together  with  rawhide,  seal  thongs 
and  stray  pieces  of  rope,  and  without  chart  or  compass, 
these  men  set  out  on  their  dangerous  errand.  Hun- 
dreds never  reached  their  destination.  Many,  after  a 
rich  harvest,  found  watery  graves,  and  beneath  the 
tide  of  Behring  Sea  lies  many  a valuable  cargo  of 
skins,  consigned  by  fate  to  the  arms  of  ocean.  When 
we  speak  of  Behring  Sea  we  must  not  imagine  a 
stretch  of  sunlit  waters,  dimpling  and  pooling  in  dells 
of  purple,  green  and  gold  ; we  must  not  imagine  a 
clear  northern  sky,  blue  as  the  heaven  that  smiles  down 
upon  fair  Italy.  Oh,  no  ; this  is  the  region  of  eternal 
fog ; gray,  sullen,  lowering  fog  that  no  glass  can 
pierce,  no  sun  dissipate.  You  cannot  tell  where  the 
sky  begins  and  the  sea  ends.  You  sail  out  a.nd  out, 
on  and  on,  into  the  dense  mist,  and  the  prow  of  your 
vessel  cuts  through  a fog  that  closes  on  you  and 
swallows  you  up,  as  it  were.  It  is  a weird,  mysterious 
land,  a strange  and  ghastly  sea;  what  wonder,  then, 
that  for  long  years  the  Pribylor  Islands  were  not 


THE  CHILIAN  QUESTION. 


It  is  astonishing  how  ignorant  we,  of  the  United 
States,  are  of  our  neighbors  of  South  America.  Proud 
of  our  own  greatness,  and  of  the  marvellous  strides  we 
have  made  in  civilization  and  power,  We  are  too  apt  to 
undervalue  the  resources  and  abilities  of  the  smaller 
nations  about  us.  Once  in  a while  history,  however, 
revenges  itself  upon  us  and  we  are  forced,  much  against 
our  will,  to  take  notice  of  those  around  us.  Of  all  our 
neighbors,  Chili  is,  perhaps,  the  least  understood,  and 
even  the  late  war  with  Peru  has  failed  to  make  us  much 
better  acquainted  with  her.  Of  all  the  South  American 
republics,  Chili  is  the  brainiest  and  most  plucky  ; she 
has  never  been  conquered  by  a foreign  enemy,  and, 
until  yesterday,  had  no  national  debt.  Her  population  is 
now  nearly  four  millions,  with  a larger  admixture  of 
Spanish  blood  than  any  of  her  sister  republics.  This 
necessarily  makes  her  prouder  and  stauncher  than  the 
rest,  and  more  prompt  to  resent  affronts.  The  area 
of  Chili  is  about  219,925  square  miles,  and  extends 
from  the  Bay  of  Mejillones  to  Cape  Horn,  a distance 
of  2270  miles,  while  in  breadth  it  varies  from  40  to  200 
miles.  Chili  has  enjoyed  a greater  degree  of  peace 


The  Chilian  Question. 


than  any  of  her  neighbors,  and  her  constant  victories 
over  the  surrounding  powers,  has  led  her  people  to 
suppose  themselves  invincible.  The  country  first  be- 
came known  to  Europeans  in  the  sixteenth  century. 
Its  name  signifies  “snow”  from  Tchile,  an  ancient 
Peruvian  word  ; such  is  the  country  and  such  is  the  peo- 
ple with  which  the  United  States  came  very  near  to 
engaging  in  war  a few  short  months  ago.  The  con- 
stitution of  Chili  differs  from  that  of  the  United  States 
in  one  important  respect ; namely,  that  the  President 
is  elected  for  five  years  and  is  not  eligible  for  a second 
term.  Jose  Manuel  Balmaceda  came  into  office  in  1886; 
he  represented  the  popular  party  as  opposed  to  the 
aristocratic  element  and  the  clerical  power.  Prior  to 
this  time,  Chili  had  been  practically  governed  by  an 
oligarchy  of  the  rich  and  renowned  Spanish  families, 
but  the  war  with  Peru  has  enabled  the  common  people 
to  press  to  the  front  and,  as  their  representative,  Bal- 
maceda came  into  power.  He  was  by  no  means  disloyal 
to  his  constituency ; he  passed  the  Civil  Marriage  and 
Cemeteries  Secularization  bills,  and  proved  to  the 
church  and  to  the  aristocracy  his  intention  to  stand  by 
the  people.  Through  a coalition  of  the  opposing  ele- 
ments in  congress,  his  government  was  left  in  a minor- 
ity but,  contrary  to  the  action  of  President  McMahon 
of  France,  he  still  clung  to  office. 

The  Chilian  constitution  gives  the  President  power 
to  appoint  his  own  cabinet  officers,  and  to  fill  positions 
in  the  civil  service,  but  the  congress  insisted  on 


Rt.  Hon.  W.  E.  GLADSTONE. 


The  autocrat  of  English  politics  to-day  is  the  Rt. 
Hon.  William  Ewart  Gladstone.  For  over  fifty  years 
his  name  has  been  in  the  mouths  of  Englishmen,  and 
he  truly  merits  the  name  bestowed  on  him  of  The 
Grand  Old  Man.  He  was  born  December  29,  1809, 
near  Liverpool,  England.  He  is  of  pure  Scotch  blood 
on  both  sides.  His  father  was  once  engaged  in  the 
business  of  a draper  but,  becoming  interested  in  the 
India  trade,  soon  amassed  a large  fortune  and  secured 
a baronetcy.  William  is  his  fourth  son.  He  was 
sent  to  Eton  and  Oxford,  taking  the  highest  honors 
at  Christ  Church  College.  December,  1832,  he  was 
elected  to  Parliament  from  Newark,  a borough  under 
the  patronage  of  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.  He  pre- 
pared himself  by  quite  extensive  travel  and  observa- 
tion. Under  the  Peel  ministry  he  became  Junior  Lord 
of  the  Treasury,  and  the  next  year,  1835,  Secretary  of 
Colonial  Affairs.  In  1841,  he  became  Vice-President 
of  the  Board  of  Trade  and  Master  of  the  Mint,  and  in 
1842  he  showed  his  iree-trade  principles  in  his  revision 
of  the  British  tariff.  In  1843,  he  was  chosen  Presi- 
dent of  the  Board  of  Trade,  and  was  Secretary  for  the 


174 


W.  E<  Gladstone. 


colonies  under  Sir  Robert  Peel.  From  1846  until  1847 
he  was  not  in  Parliament,  but  since  that  date  has  con- 
stantly represented  some  constituency.  The  Univer- 
sity of  Oxford  honored  him  by  electing  him  its  repre- 
sentative in  Parliament  in  1847,  thus  inaugurating  his 
marvellous  hold  on  office.  In  1850,  he  gave  the  world 
a double  taste  of  his  character — first,  in  his  opposition 
to  the  brutal  treatment  of  Greece  in  the  Don  Pacifico 
affair,  and  next  by  his  vigorous  denunciation  of  the 
Bourbon  misrule  in  Naples,  which  he  had  seen  with 
his  own  eyes.  Garibaldi  called  his  portrait  The  First 
Trump  of  Liberty.  About  this  time,  his  great  Parlia- 
mentary battles  with  Benjamin  Disraeli  began,  and 
continued  until  the  latter  statesman  was  called  to  the 
House  of  Lords.  As  a financier,  Gladstone  never 
met  an  equal.  His  budgets  had  all  the  interest  of  his- 
tory, with  a practical  value  rarely  achieved.  Under 
his  management  figures  assumed  a magical  charm. 
As  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  he  made  himself  a 
name  throughout  the  civilized  world.  He  came  out 
as  a Liberal,  fully,  in  1859,  after  the  Crimean  War. 
During  the  American  Civil  War  he  was  at  first  favor- 
able to  the  South,  fully  believing  that  the  United 
States  would  be  divided,  but  he  was  quick  to  see  his 
error,  and  nobly  expressed  his  change  of  opinion. 
Gladstone  has  been  Prime  Minister  of  England  three 
times.  He  has  stood  always  for  the  Rights  of  Nations. 
The  Golden  Rule  has  been  the  core  of  his  statesman- 
ship. Greece,  Belgium,  South  Africa  and,  above  all, 


FREE  TRADE. 


The  Rt.  Hon.  W.  E.  Gladstone. 


i.  Apology  for  this  Article. 


existing  difference  of  practice  between 


America  and  Britain  with  respect  to  free  trade  and 
protection  of  necessity  gives  rise  to  a kind  of  inter- 
national controversy  on  their  respective  merits.  To 
interfere  from  across  the  water  in  such  a controversy 
is  an  act  which  may  wear  the  appearance  of  imperti- 
nence. It  is  prima  facie  an  intrusion  by  a citizen  of 
one  country  into  the  domestic  affairs  of  another,  which, 
as  a rule,  must  be  better  judged  of  by  denizens  than 
by  foreigners.  Nay,  it  may  even  seem  a rather  violent 
intrusion  ; for  the  sincere  advocate  of  one  of  the  two 
systems  cannot  speak  of  what  he  deems  to  be  the  de- 
merits of  the  other  otherwise  than  in  broad  and  tren- 
chant terms.  In  this  case,  however,  it  may  be  said 
that  something  of  reciprocal  reproach  is  implied  in  the 


i78 


Free  Trade. 


glaring  contrast  between  the  legislation  of  the  two 
countries,  apart  from  any  argumentative  exposition 
of  its  nature.  And  where  should  an  Englishman  look 
for  weapons  to  be  used  against  protection,  or  an 
American  for  weapons  to  be  wielded  in  its  favor,  ex- 
cept in  America  and  England  respectively  ? 

This  sentiment  received,  during  the  late  Presidential 
struggle,  a lively  illustration  in  practice.  An  Ameri- 
can gentleman,  Mr.  N.  McKay,  of  New  York,  took, 
according  to  the  proverb,  the  bull  by  the  horns.  He 
visited  Great  Britain,  made  what  he  considered  to  be 
an  inspection  of  the  employments,  wages  and  condition 
of  the  people,  and  reported  the  result  to  his  country- 
men, while  they  were  warm  with  the  animation  of  the 
national  contest,  under  the  doleful  titles  of  “Free-Trade 
Toilers”  and  “Starvation  Wages  for  Menand  Women.” 
He  was  good  enough  to  forward  to  me  a copy  of  his 
most  interesting  tract,  and  he  did  me  the  further  honor 
to  address  to  me  a letter  covering  the  pamphlet.  He 
challenged  an  expression  of  my  opinion  on  the  results 
of  free  trade  in  England  and  on  “ the  relative  value  of 
free  trade  and  protection  to  the  English-speaking 
people.” 

There  was  an  evident  title  thus  to  call  upon  me, 
because  I had,  many  years  since,  given  utterance  to 
an  opinion  then  and  now  sincerely  entertained.  I 
thought,  and  each  of  the  rolling  years  teaches  me  more 
and  more  fixedly  to  think,  that  in  international  trans- 
actions the  British  nation  for  the  present  enjoys  a 


Free  Trade. 


179 


commercial  primacy;  that  no  country  in  the  world 
shows  any  capacity  to  wrest  it  from  us,  except  it  be 
America  ; that,  if  America  shall  frankly  adopt  and 
steadily  maintain  a system  of  free  trade,  she  will  by 
degrees,  perhaps  not  slow  degrees,  outstrip  us  in  the 
race,  and  will  probably  take  the  place  which  at  present 
belongs  to  us  ; but  that  she  will  not  injure  us  by  the 
operation.  On  the  contrary,  she  will  do  us  good.  Her 
freedom  of  trade  will  add  to  our  present  commerce  and 
our  present  wealth,  so  that  we  shall  be  better  than  we 
now  are.  But  while  we  obtain  this  increment,  she  will 
obtain  another  increment,  so  much  larger  than  ours 
that  it  will  both  cover  the  minus  quantity  which,  as 
compared  with  us,  she  at  present  exhibits  in  interna- 
tional transactions,  and  also  establish  a positive  ex- 
cess, in  her  own  favor. 

It  would  have  been  impertinent  in  me,  and  on  other 
grounds  impolitic,  to  accept  the  invitation  of  Mr.  Mc- 
Kay while  the  Presidential  contest  was  yet  pending. 
But  all  the  agencies  in  that  great  election  have  now 
done  their  work,  and  protection  has  obtained  her  vic- 
tory. Be  she  the  loveliest  and  most  fruitful  mother  of 
the  wealth  of  nations,  or  be  she  an  imposter  and  a 
swindler,  distinguished  from  other  swindlers  mainly 
by  the  vast  scale  of  her  operations,  she  no  longer 
stands  within  the  august  shadow  of  the  election,  and 
she  must  take  her  chance  in  the  arena  of  discussion 
as  a common  combatant,  entitled  to  free  speech  and  to 
fair  treatment,  but  to  nothing  more.  So  that  the 


i8o 


Free  Trade. 


citizens  of  two  countries,  long  friendly,  and  evidently 
destined  to  yet  closer  frendliness,  may  now  calmly  and 
safely  pursue  an  argument  which,  from  either  of  the 
opposing  points  of  view,  has  the  most  direct  bearing 
on  the  wealth,  comfort  and  well-being  of  the  people 
on  both  sides  of  the  water. 

II.  An  Old  Friend  with  a New  Face. 

The  appeal  of  the  champion  whose  call  has  brought 
me  into  the  field  is  very  properly  made  “ to  the  wage- 
earners  of  the  United  States.”  He  exhibits  the  de- 
plorable condition  of  the  British  workingman,  and  asks 
whether  our  commercial  supremacy  is  not  upheld  at 
his  expense.  The  constant  tenor  of  the  argument  is 
this  : High  wages  by  protection,  low  wages  by  free 
trade.  It  is  even  as  the  recurring  burden  of  a song. 
Now,  it  sometimes  happens  that,  while  we  listen  to  a 
melody  presented  to  us  as  new,  the  idea  gradually 
arises  in  the  mind,  “ I have  heard  this  before.”  And 
I can  state  with  truth  that  I have  heard  this  very  same 
melody  before ; nay,  that  I am  familiar  with  it.  It 
comes  to  us  now  with  a pleasant  novelty ; but  once 
upon  a time  we  British  folk  were  surfeited,  nay,  almost 
bored  to  death  with  it.  It  is  simply  the  old  song  of 
our  squires,  which  they  sang  with  perfect  assurance  to 
defend  the  Corn  Laws,  first  from  within  the  fortress 
of  an  unreformed  Parliament,  and  then  for  a good 
many  years  more,  with  their  defences  fatally  and  fast 


Free  Trade. 


183 


on  the  whole,  higher  than  those  of  the  Continent. 
Under  protection,  American  wages  are  higher  than 
those  of  Great  Britain.  We  then  argued,  post  hoc , 
ergo  propter  hoc.  He  now  argues  (just  listen  to  his 
phonograph),  post  hoc , ergo  propter  hoc.  But  our 
experience  has  proceeded  a stage  further  than  that  of 
the  American  people.  Despite  the  low  wages  of  the 
Continent,  we  broke  down  every  protective  wall  and 
flooded  the  country  (so  the  phrase  then  ran)  with  the 
corn  and  the  commodities  of  the  whole  world  ; with 
the  corn  of  America  first  and  foremost.  But  did  our 
rates  of  wages  thereupon  sink  to  the  level  of  the  Con- 
tinent? Or  did  it  rise  steadily  and  rapidly  to  a point 
higher  than  had  been  ever  known  before  ? 

That  the  American  rate  of  wages  is  higher  than 
ours  I concede.  Some,  at  least,  of  the  causes  of  this 
most  gratifying  fact  I shall  endeavor  to  acknowledge. 
My  enumeration  may  be  sufficient  or  may  be  other- 
wise. Whether  it  be  exhaustive  or  not,  the  facts  will 
of  themselves  tend  to  lay  upon  protectionism  the 
burden  of  establishing,  by  something  more  than  mere 
concomitancy,  a causal  relation  between  commercial 
restraint  and  wages  relatively  high.  But  what  if,  be- 
sides doing  this,  I show  (and  it  is  easy)  that  wages 
which  may  have  been  partially  and  relatively  high 
under  protection,  have  become  both  generally  and 
absolutely  higher,  and  greatly  higher,  under  free 
trade  ? 

That  protection  may  co-exist  with  high  wages,  that 
it  may  not  of  itself  neutralize  all  the  gifts  and  favors 


Free  Trade. 


184 


of  nature,  that  it  does  not,  as  a matter  of  course,  make 
a rich  country  into  a poor  one — all  this  may  be  true, 
but  is  nothing  to  the  point.  The  true  question  is, 
whether  protection  offers  us  the  way  to  the  maximum 
of  attainable  wage.  This  can  only  be  done  by  raising 
to  the  utmost  attainable  height  the  fund  out  of  which 
wages  and  profits  alike  are  drawn.  If  its  tendency  is 
not  to  increase,  but  to  diminish,  that  fund,  then  pro- 
tection is  a bar  to  high  wages,  not  their  cause  ; and  is, 
therefore,  the  enemy,  not  the  friend,  of  the  classes  on 
whose  wages  their  livelihood  depends.  This  is  a first 
outline  of  the  propositions  which  I shall  endeavor  to 
unfold  and  to  bring  home. 

III.  British  Wages. 

Mr.  McKay  greatly  relied  upon  a representation 
which  he  has  given  as  to  the  rate  of  wages  in  England. 
It  is  only  incidental  to  the  main  discussion,  for  the 
subject  of  this  paper  is  not  England,  but  America. 
Yet  it  evidently  requires  to  be  dealt  with  ; and  I shall 
deal  with  it  broadly,  though  briefly,  asking  leave  to 
contest  alike  the  inferences  and  the  facts  which  he 
presents.  My  contention  on  this  head  will  be  two- 
fold. First,  he  has  been  misled  as  to  the  actual  rate 
of  wages  in  England.  Secondly,  the  question  is  not 
whether  that  rate  is  lower  than  the  rate  in  America, 
nor  even  whether  the  American  workman  (and  this  is 
a very  different  matter)  is  always  better  off  than  the 


RATIFYING  THE  NOMINATION, 
MINNEAPOLIS,  MINN. 


Free  Trade. 


188 


a very  high  degree,  the  public  confidence.  He  sup- 
plies us  with  tables  which  compare  the  wages  of  1833 
with  those  of  1883  in  such  a way  as  to  speak  for  the 
principal  branches  of  industry,  with  the  exception  of 
agricultural  labor.  The  wages  of  miners,  we  learn, 
have  increased  in  Staffordshire  (which  almost  certainly 
is  the  mining  district  of  lowest  increment)  by  50  per 
cent.  In  the  great  exportable  manufactures  of  Brad- 
ford and  Huddersfield,  the  lowest  augmentations  are 
20  and  30  per  cent.,  and  in  other  branches  they  rise  to 
50,  83,  100  and  even  to  150  and  160  per  cent.  The 
quasi-domestic  trades  of  carpenters,  bricklayers  and 
masons,  in  the  great  marts  of  Glasgow  and  Manches- 
ter, show  a mean  increase  of  63  per  cent,  for  the  first, 
65  per  cent,  for  the  second,  and  47  per  cent,  for  the 
third.  The  lowest  weekly  wage  named  for  an  adult  is 
twenty-two  shillings  (as  against  seventeen  shillings  in 
1833),  and  the  highest  thirty-six  shillings.  But  it  is 
the  relative  rate  with  which  we  have  to  do  ; and,  as  the 
American  writer  appears  to  contemplate  with  a pecu- 
liar dread  the  effect  of  free  trade  upon  shipping,  I 
further  quote  Mr.  Gififen  on  the  monthly  wages  of  sea- 
men in  1833  and  1883  in  Bristol,  Glasgow,  Liverpool 
and  London.  The  percentage  of  increase,  since  we 
have  passed  from  the  protective  system  of  the  Naviga- 
tion Law  into  free  trade,  is  in  Bristol  66  per  cent.,  in 
Glasgow  55  per  cent.,  in  Liverpool  (for  different  classes) 
from  25  per  cent,  to  70  per  cent.,  and  in  London  from 
45  per  cent,  to  69  per  cent.  Mr.  Gififen  has  given  the 


Free  Trade. 


191 


IV.  Protection  Viewed  in  its  First  Aspects. 

With  a view  to  presenting  the  argument  for  leaving 
trade  to  the  operation  of  natural  laws  in  the  simplest 
manner,  I shall  begin  with  some  postulates  which  I 
suppose  to  be  incapable  of  dispute. 

International  commerce  is  based,  not  upon  arbitrary 
or  fanciful  considerations,  but  upon  the  unequal  distri- 
bution among  men  and  regions  of  aptitudes  to  pro- 
duce the  several  commodities  which  are  necessary  or 
useful  for  the  sustenance,  comfort  and  advantage  of 
human  life. 

If  every  country  produced  all  commodities  with 
exactly  the  same  degree  of  facility  or  cheapness,  it 
would  be  contrary  to  common-sense  to  incur  the  charge 
of  sending  them  from  one  country  to  another. 

But  the  inequalities  are  so  great  that  (for  example) 
region  A can  supply  region  B with  many  articles  of 
food,  and  region  B can,  in  return,  supply  region  A with 
many  articles  of  clothing,  at  such  rates  that,  although 
in  each  case  the  charge  of  transmission  has  of  neces- 
sity been  added  to  the  first  cost,,  the  respective  articles 
can  be  sold  after  importation  at  a lower  rate  than  if 
they  were  home-grown  or  home-manufactured  in  the  I, 
one  or  the  other  country  respectively. 

The  relative  cost,  in  each  case,  of  production  and 
transmis:  ion,  as  compared  with  domestic  production, 
supplies,  while  all  remain  untrammelled  by  State  law, 
a rule,  motive,  or  mainspring  of  distribution  which  may 
be  termed  natural. 


Free  Trade. 


203 


vast  army  of  the  wholesale  and  retail  tradesmen  of  a 
country,  with  all  the  wants  appertaining  to  them.  As 
consumers,  they  are  taxed  on  all  protected  com- 
modities ; as  the  allies  of  producers  in  the  business  of 
distributing,  they  are  forced  to  do  with  more  capital 
what  could  be  done  as  well  with  less. 


V.  Relation  between  Protection  and 
High  Wages. 

Admitting  that  we  see  in  the  United  States  a co- 
existence of  high  wages  with  protection,  but  denying 
the  relation  of  cause  and  effect  between  them,  I may 
be  asked  whether  I am  prepared  to  broaden  that 
denial  into  an  universal  proposition  and  contend  that 
in  no  case  can  wages  be  raised  by  a system  of  protec- 
tion. 

My  answer  is  this  : A country  cannot  possiby  raise 
its  aggregate  wage  fund  by  protection,  but  must  inevi- 
tably reduce  it.  It  is  a contrivance  for  producing  dear 
and  for  selling  dear,  under  cover  of  a wall  or  fence  which 
shuts  out  the  cheaper  foreign  article,  or  handicaps  it 
on  admission  by  the  imposition  of  a heavy  fine.  Yet 
I may  for  the  moment  allow  it  to  be  possible  that,  in 
some  particular  trade  or  trades,  wages  may  be  raised 
(at  the  expense  of  the  community)  in  consequence  of 
protection.  There  was  a time  when  America  built 
ships  for  Great  Britain  ; namely,  before  the  American 
Revolution.  She  now  imposes  heavy  duties  to  pre- 


2o8 


Free  Trade. 


VI.  On  the  Reasons  why  Protection  only 
Injures,  and  does  not  Ruin,  the 
United  States. 

I hold  that  dear  production,  even  if  compensated  to 
the  producer  by  high  price,  is  a wasteful  and  exhaust- 
ing process.  I may  still  be  asked  for  a detailed  answer 
to  the  question : “ How,  then,  is  it,  that  America, 
which,  as  you  say,  makes  enormous  waste  by  protec- 
tion, nevertheless  outstrips  all  other  countries  in  the 
rapid  accumulation  of  her  wealth?”  To  which  my 
general  answer  is,  that  the  case  is  like  that  of  an  indi- 
vidual who,  with  wasteful  expenditure,  has  a vast  for- 
tune, such  as  to  leave  him  a large  excess  of  receipts. 
But  for  his  waste  that  excess  would  be  larger  still. 

I will,  then,  proceed  to  set  forth  some  of  the  causes 
which,  by  giving  exceptional  energy  and  exceptional 
opportunity  to  the  work:  of  production  in  America, 
seem  to  allow  (in  homely  phrase),  of  her  making  ducks 
and  drakes  of  a large  portion  of  what  ought  to  be  her 
accumulations,  and  yet,  by  virtue  of  the  remainder  of 
them,  to  astonish  the  world. 

i.  Let  me  observe,  first,  that  America  produces  an 
enormous  mass  of  cotton,  cereals,  meat,  oils,  and  other 
commodities,  which  are  sold  in  the  unsheltered  market 
of  the  world  at  such  prices  as  it  will  yield.  The  pro- 
ducers are  fined  for  the  benefit  of  the  protected  inter- 
ests, and  receive  nothing  in  return;  but  they  obtain 
for  their  country,  as  well  as  for  the  world,  the  whole 
advantage  of  a vast  natural  trade  ; that  is  to  say,  a 


Free  Trade. 


209 


trade  in  which  production  is  carried  on  at  a minimum 
cost  in  capital  and  labor  as  compared  with  what  the 
rest  of  the  world  can  do. 

2.  America  invites  and  obtains  in  a remarkable  de- 
gree from  all  the  world  one  of  the  great  elements  of 
production,  without  tax  of  any  kind ; namely,  capital. 

3.  While  securing  to  the  capitalist  producer  a mo- 
nopoly in  the  protected  trades,  she  allows  all  the  world 
to  do  its  best,  by  a free  immigration,  to  prevent  or 
qualify  any  corresponding  monopoly  in  the  class  of 
workmen. 

4.  She  draws  upon  a bank  of  natural  resources  so 
vast  that  it  easily  bears  those  deductions  of  improvi- 
dence which  simply  prevent  the  results  from  being 
vaster  still. 

Let  me  now  mention  some  at  least  among  those 
elements  of  the  unrivalled  national  strength  of  America 
which  explain  to  us  why  she  is  not  ruined  by  the  huge 
waste  of  the  protective  system.  And  first  of  these  I 
place  the  immense  extent  and  vastness  of  her  terri- 
tory, which  make  her  not  so  much  a country  as  in  her- 
self a world,  and  not  a very  little  world.  She  carries 
on  the  business  of  domestic  exchanges  on  a scale  such 
as  mankind  has  never  seen.  Of  all  the  staple  products 
of  human  industry  and  care,  how  few  are  there  which, 
in  one  or  another  of  her  countless  regions,  the  soil  of 
America  would  refuse  to  yield.  No  other  country 
has  the  same  diversity,  the  same  free  choice  of  in- 
dustrial pursuit,  the  same  option  to  lay  hold  not  on 


2l6 


Free  Trade. 


VII.  The  Moral  Aspect  of  the  Subject. 

I am  sorry  to  say  that,  although  I have  closed  the 
economical  argument,  I have  not  yet  done  with  the 
counts  of  my  indictment  against  protection.  I have, 
indeed,  had  to  ask  myself  whether  I should  be  within 
my  right  in  saying  hard  things,  outside  the  domain  of 
political  economy,  about  a system  which  has  com- 
mended itself  to  the  great  American  state  and  people, 
although  those  hard  things  are,  in  part  at  least,  strictly 
consequent  upon  what  has  been  said  before.  Indeed, 
the  moral  is  so  closely  allied  to  the  economical  argu- 
ment as  to  be  intertwined  with  it  rather  than  consequent 
upon  it.  Further,  I believe  the  people  of  the  United 
States  to  be  a people  who,  like  that  race  from  which 
they  are  sprung,  love  plain  speaking ; and  I do  not 
believe  that  to  suppress  opinions  deliberately  and 
conscientiously  held  would  be  the  way  to  win  your 
respect. 

I urge,  then,  that  all  protection  is  morally  as  well  as 
economically  bad.  This  is  a very  different  thing  from 
saying  that  all  protectionists  are  bad.  Many  of  them, 
without  doubt,  are  good,  nay,  excellent,  as  were  in  this 
country  many  of  the  supporters  of  the  Corn  Law.  It 
is  of  the  tendencies  of  a system  that  I speak,  which 
operate  variously,  upon  most  men  unconsciously,  upon 
some  men  not  at  all ; and  surely  that  system  cannot  be 
good  which  makes  an  individual,  or  a set  of  individuals, 
live  on  the  resources  of  the  community  and  causes  him 


Kree  'Trade. 


217 


relatively  to  diminish  that  store,  which  duty  to  his  fel- 
low-citizens and  to  their  equal  rights  should  teach  him 
by  his  contributions  to  augment.  The  habit  of  mind 
thus  engendered  is  not  such  as  altogether  befits  a free 
country  or  harmonizes  with  an  independent  character. 
And  the  more  the  system  of  protection  is  discussed 
and  contested,  the  more  those  whom  it  favors  are  driven 
to  struggle  for  its  maintenance,  the  farther  they  must 
insensibly  deviate  from  the  law  of  equal  rights,  and, 
perhaps,  even  from  the  tone  of  genuine  personal  inde- 
pendence. 

In  speaking  thus,  we  speak  greatly  from  our  own 
experience.  I have  personally  lived  through  the  varied 
phases  of  that  experience,  since  we  began  that  battle 
between  monopoly  and  freedom,  which  cost  us  about 
a quarter  of  a century  of  the  nation’s  life.  I have 
seen  and  known,  and  had  the  opportunity  of  compar- 
ing, the  temper  and  frame  of  mind  engendered  first 
by  our  protectionism,  which  we  now  look  back  upon  as 
servitude,  and  then  by  the  commercial  freedom  and 
equality  which  we  have  enjoyed  for  the  last  thirty  or 
forty  years.  The  one  tended  to  harden  into  positive 
selfishness  ; the  other  has  done  much  to  foster  a more 
liberal  tone  of  mind. 

The  economical  question  which  I have  been  endeav- 
oring to  discuss  is  a very  large  one.  Nevertheless,  it 
dwindles,  in  my  view,  when  it  is  compared  with  the 
paramount  question  of  the  American  future  viewed  at 
large.  There  opens  before  the  thinking  mind,  when 


Free  Trade. 


219 


mulations.  The  American  love  of  freedom  will,  beyond 
all  doubt,  be  to  some  extent  qualified,  perhaps  in  some 
cases  impaired,  by  the  subtle  influence  of  gold,  aggre- 
gated by  many  hands  in  vaster  masses  than  have  yet 
been  known. 

Aurum  per  medios  ire  satellites, 

Et  perrumpere  amat  saxa,  potentius 

Ictu  fulmineo 

But,  to  rise  higher  still,  how  will  the  majestic  figure, 
about  to  become  the  largest  and  most  powerful  on  the 
stage  of  the  world’s  history,  make  use  of  his  power? 
Will  it  be  instinct  with  moral  life  in  proportion  to  its 
material  strength!  Will  he  uphold  and  propagate 
the  Chris'tian  tradition  with  that  surpassing  energy 
which  marks  him  in  all  the  ordinary  pursuits  of  life? 
Will  he  maintain  with  a high  hand  an  unfaltering  rev- 
erence for  that  law  of  nature  which  is  anterior  to  the 
Gospel,  and  supplies  the  standard  to  which  it  appeals, 
the  very  foundation  on  which  it  is  built  up  ? Will  he 
fully  know,  and  fully  act  upon  the  knowledge,  that 
both  reverence  and  strictness  are  essential  conditions 
of  all  high  and  desirable  well-being?  And  will  he  be 
a leader  and  teacher  to  us  of  the  old  world  in  reject- 
ing and  denouncing  all  the  miserable,  degrading  sophis- 
tries by  which  the  arch-enemy,  ever  devising  more  and 
more  subtle  schemes  against  us,  seeks  at  one  stroke 
perhaps  to  lower  us  beneath  the  brutes,  assuredly  to 
cut  us  off  from  the  hope  and  from  the  source  of  the 
final  good?  One  thing  is  certain:  His  temptations  will 


JAMES  G.  BLAINE. 


The  most  commanding  figure  in  American  politics 
to-day  is  James  G.  Blaine.  Possessed  of  magnetic 
personality,  infinitely  sensitive  and  keen,  he  is  almost 
unique  among  statesmen.  He  was  born  June  31, 
1830,  in  Union  Township,  Washington  County,  Pa. 
He  is  of  rugged  Scotch-Irish  stock,  a race  warranted 
to  wear  well  in  any  climate  and  under  any  circum- 
stances. Blaine  was  sent  to  school  when  six  years  of 
age,  and  soon  showed  the  two  characteristics  necessary 
to  greatness — a surprising  memory,  and  fluency  of 
speech.  When  little  over  seventeen  years  of  age,  he 
graduated  from  Washington  College,  Washington,  Pa. 
He  was  at  this  time  a raw-boned,  angular  lad,  but 
very  bright  and  plucky.  He  put  his  foot  on  the  first 
round  of  the  ladder  of  fame  by  teaching  school  at 
Lick  Springs,  Kentucky.  There  were  four  hundred 
and  fifty  boys  in  the  school,  a sort  of  military  college, 
and  Blaine’s  first  lessons  in  government  were  learned 
in  that  unruly  little  republic.  In  1853,  he  removed  to 
Augusta,  Maine,  and  purchased  a half  interest  in  the 
Kennebec  Journal.  He  was  a heaven-made  journalist. 
His  keen  satire  and  exhaustless  humor,  added  to  the 


222 


James  G.  Blaine. 


sharp  look-out  he  kept  upon  current  events,  soon 
made  him  and  his  paper  noteworthy.  In  1858,  he 
was  elected  to  the  Legislature,  and  also  made  chair- 
man of  the  Republican  State  Committee.  He  was 
twice  elected  Speaker  of  the  lower  House,  and  thus 
early  gave  convincing  proof  of  his  power  to  control 
legislative  bodies,  and  his  great  knowledge  of  parlia- 
mentary law.  In  the  dark  days  of  1862,  he  became 
a member  of  Congress  and  soon  took  active  part  in 
the  debates.  He  was  re-elected  for  several  terms  and 
became  Speaker  of  the  Forty-first  Congress.  He 
proved  himself  a sturdy  Samson  in  opposition  to  the 
political  Philistines  who  constantly  tried  to  upset  his 
calm  impartiality,  and  his  iron  endurance  won  the  sur- 
prised admiration  of  friends  and  foes  alike.  For  six 
years  he  held  this  position,  which  is  practically  the 
third  greatest  in  the  country,  and  really  demands  the 
greatest  intelligence.  Upon  the  return  of  the  south- 
ern members  to  the  House,  Mr.  Blaine  became  the 
recognized  leader  of  the  Republican  minority,  and 
proved  a terrible  thorn  in  the  side  of  the  “rebel  briga- 
diers,” who  hated  him  right  royally  for  his  stand 
against  admitting  Jefferson  Davis  to  amnesty.  Prior 
to  the  meeting  of  the  Republican  convention  in  Cin- 
cinnati in  1876,  the  enemies  of  Mr.  Blaine,  first  by 
innuendo  and  at  last  by  definite  charges,  did  all  they 
could  to  injure  him,  but  he  triumphantly  vindicated 
his  integrity,  and  endeared  himself  still  more  to  the 
hearts  of  the  Am.  rican  people.  He  became  Secretary 


PROTECTION. 


Hon.  James  G.  Blaine, 

Secretary  of  State. 


Americans  Honor  Gladstone. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  Mr.  Gladstone  is 
the  most  distinguished  representative  of  the  free-trade 
school  of  political  economists.  His  addresses  in  Par- 
liament on  his  celebrated  budget,  when  Chancellor  of 
the  Exchequer,  in  1853,  were  declared  by  Lord  John 
Russell  “to  contain  the  ablest  exposition  of  the  true 
principles  of  finance  ever  delivered  by  an  English 
statesman.”  His  illustrious  character,  his  great  ability 
and  his  financial  experience  point  to  him  as  the  leading 
defender  of  free  trade  applied  to  the  industrial  system 
of  Great  Britain. 

Mr.  Gladstone  apologizes  for  his  apparent  interfer- 
ence with  our  affairs.  He  may  be  assured  that  apology 


226 


Protection. 


is  superfluous.  Americans  of  all  classes  hold  him  in 
honer:  Free-traders  will  rejoice  in  so  eminent  an  advo- 
cate, and  protectionists,  always  the  representatives  of 
liberality  and  progress,  will  be  glad  to  learn  his  opin- 
ions upon  a question  of  such  transcendent  importance 
to  the  past,  the  present  and  the  future  of  the  Republic. 

England’s  Meat,  Other  Nations’  Poison. 

Perhaps  the  most  remarkable  feature  in  the  argu- 
ment of  Mr.  Gladstone,  as  indeed  of  every  English 
free-trader  except  John  Stuart  Mill,  is  the  universality 
of  application  which  he  demands  for  his  theory.  In 
urging  its  adoption  he  makes  no  distinction  between 
countries;  he  takes  no  account  of  geographical  posi- 
tion— whether  a nation  be  in  the  eastern  or  the  west- 
ern hemisphere,  whether  it  be  north  or  south  of  the 
equator ; he  pays  no  heed  to  climate  or  product,  or 
degree  of  advancement ; none  to  topography — whether 
the  country  be  as  level  as  the  delta  of  the  Nile,  or  as 
mountainous  as  the  Republic  of  Bolivia;  none  to  pur- 
suits and  employments,  whether  in  the  agricultural, 
manufacturing,  or  commercial  field ; none  to  the  wealth 
or  poverty  of  a people ; none  to  population,  whether 
it  be  crowded  or  sparse;  none  to  area,  whether  it  be  as 
limited  as  a German  principality  or  as  extended  as  a 
continental  empire.  Free  trade  he  believes  advanta- 
geous for  England:  therefore,  without  the  allowance 
of  any  modifying  condition,  great  or  small,  the  English 


Protection. 


227 


economist  declares  it  to  be  advantageous  for  the  United 
States,  for  Brazil,  for  Australia;  in  short,  for  all  coun- 
tries with  which  England  can  establish  trade  relations 
It  would  be  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  for  Mr.  Glad- 
stone to  find  any  principle  of  administration  or  any 
measure  of  finance  so  exactly  fitted  to  the  varying 
needs  of  all  countries  as  he  assumes  the  policy  of  free 
trade  to  be.  Surely  it  is  not  unfair  to  mantain  that, 
deducing  his  results  from  observation  and  experience 
in  his  own  country,  he  may  fall  into  error  and  fail  to 
appreciate  the  financial  workings  of  other  countries 
geographically  remote  and  of  vastly  greater  area. 

The  American  protectionist,  let  it  not  be  discourte- 
ous to  urge,  is  broader  in  his  views  than  the  English 
free-trader.  No  intelligent  protectionist  in  the  United 
States  pretends  that  every  country  would  alike  realize 
advantage  from  the  adoption  of  the  protective  system. 
Human  government  is  not  a machine,  and  even  ma- 
chines cannot  be  so  perfectly  adjusted  as  to  work  with 
equal  effectiveness  at  all  times  and  under  all  conditions. 
Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  certainly  resemble 
one  another  in  more  ways  than  either  can  be  said  to 
resemble  any  other  nation  in  the  world;  yet,  when  we 
compare  the  two  on  the  question  at  issue,  the  differ- 
ences are  so  marked  that  we  almost  lose  sight  of  the 
resemblance.  One  is  an  insular  monarchy  with  class 
government ; the  other  a continental  republic  with  pop- 
ular government.  One  has  a large  population  to  the 
square  mile ; the  other  a small  population  to  the 


23° 


. Protection. 


even  a brief  period.  She  is  in  an  especial  degree 
dependent  upon  the  products  of  other  nations.  More- 
over, she  does  not  feel  bound  to  pay  heed  to  the  rate 
of  wages  which  her  labor  may  receive.  That,  like  the 
fabrics  which  her  labor  creates,  must  take  its  chance 
in  the  markets  of  the  world. 


Why  England  was  Content. 

On.  many  points  and  in  many  respects  it  was  far 
different  with  Great  Britain  a hundred  years  ago.  She 
did  not  then  feel  assured  that  she  could  bear  the  com- 
petition of  Continental  nations.  She  was,  therefore, 
aggressively,  even  cruelly,  protective.  She  manufac- 
tured for  herself  and  for  her  net-work  of  colonies  reach- 
ing around  the  globe.  Into  those  colonies  no  other 
nation  could  carry  anything.  There  was  no  scale  of 
duty  upon  which  other  nations  could  enter  a colonial 
port.  What  the  colonies  needed  outside  of  British 
products  could  be  furnished  to  them  only  in  British 
ships.  This  was  not  protection  ! It  was  prohibition, 
absolute  and  remorseless,  and  it  was  continued  even  to 
the  day  when  Mr.  Gladstone  entered  upon  his  long 
and  splendid  career  in  Parliament.  It  was  not  broken, 
though  in  some  respects  it  was  relaxed,  until  in  the  ful- 
ness of  time  British  energy  had  carried  the  wealth  and 
the  skill  of  the  kingdom  to  the  point  where  no  competi- 
tion could  be  feared. 


*34 


Protection. 


markets  of  the  world.  An  extraordinary  stimulus  was 
thus  given  to  all  forms  of  trade  in  the  United  States. 
For  ten  years — 1846  to  1856 — these  adventitious  aids 
came  in  regular  succession  and  exerted  their  power- 
ful influence  upon  the  prosperity  of  the  country. 


Financial  Disaster. 

The  withdrawal  or  termination  of  these  influences, 
by  a treaty  of  peace  in  Europe  and  by  the  surcease  of 
gold  from  California,  placed  the  tariff  of  1846  where  a 
real  test  of  its  merits  or  its  demerits  could  be  made. 
It  was  everywhere  asked  with  apprehension  and  anx- 
iety, Will  this  free-trade  tariff  now  develop  and  sustain 
the  business  of  the  country  as  firmly  and  securely  as 
it  has  been  developed  and  sustained  by  protection  ? 
The  answer  was  made  in  the  ensuing  year  by  a wide- 
spread financial  panic,  which  involved  the  ruin  of  thou- 
sands, including  proportionately  as  many  in  the  South 
as  in  the  North,  leaving  the  country  disordered  and 
distressed  in  all  the  avenues  of  trade.  The  disastrous 
results  of  this  tariff  upon  the  permanent  industries  of 
the  country  are  described  in  President  Buchanan’s 
well-remembered  message,  communicated  to  Congress 
after  the  panic:  “ With  unsurpassed  plenty  in  all  the 
elements  of  national  wealth,  our  manufacturers  have 
suspended,  our  public  works  are  retarded,  our  private 
enterprises  of  different  kinds  are  abandoned,  and 


236 


Protection. 


a whole  chapter  of  the  history  of  free  trade  in  the 
United  States: 

No  price  for  property;  no  sales  except  those  of  the  sheriff  and  the  marshal; 
no  purchasers  at  execution-sales  except  the  creditor  or  some  hoarder  of  money; 
no  employment  for  industry  ; no  demand  for  labor  ; no  sale  for  the  products 
of  the  farm  ; no  sound  of  the  hammer  except  that  of  the  auctioneer  knocking 
down  property.  Distress  was  the  universal  cry  of  the  people  ; relief  the  uni- 
versal demand. 

Relief  came  at  last  with  the  enactment  of  the  pro- 
tective tariff  of  1824,  to  the  support  of  which  leading 
men  of  both  parties  patriotically  united  for  the  com- 
mon good.  That  act,  supplemented  by  the  act  of 
1828,  brought  genuine  prosperity  to  the  country.  The 
credit  of  passing  the  two  protective  acts  was  not  due 
to  one  party  alone.  It  was  the  work  of  the  great  men 
of  both  parties.  Mr.  Clay  and  General  Jackson,  Mr. 
Webster  and  Mr.  Van  Buren,  General  William  Henry 
Harrison  and  Richard  M.  Johnson,  Silas  Wright  and 
Louis  McLane,  voted  for  one  or  the  other  of  these 
acts,  and  several  of  them  voted  for  both.  The  co-op- 
eration of  these  eminent  men  is  a great  historic  tribute 
to  the  necessity  and  value  of  protection.  Plenty  and 
prosperity  followed,  as  if  by  magic,  the  legislation  to 
which  they  gave  their  support.  We  have  their  concur- 
rent testimony  that  the  seven  years  preceding  the 
enactment  of  the  protective  tariff  of  1824  were  the 
most  discouraging  which  the  young  Republic  in  its  brief 
life  had  encountered,  and  that  the  seven  years  which 
followed  its  enactment  were  beyond  precedent  the  most 
prosperous  and  happy. 


MILWAUKEE  RAILROAD  STATION, 
MINNEAPOLIS,  MINN. 


. 


Protection. 


24 1 


But  Mr.  Gladstone,  with  an  apparent  confidence  in 
results  as  unshaken  as  though  he  were  dealing  with 
the  science  of  numbers,  proceeds  to  demonstrate  the 
advantage  of  free  trade.  He  is  positively  certain  in 
advance  of  the  answer  which  experiment  will  give,  and 
the  inference  is  that  notning  is  to  be  gained  by 
awaiting  the  experiment.  Mr.  Gladstone  may  argue 
for  Great  Britain  as  he  will,  but  for  the  United  States 
we  must  insist  on  being  guided  by  facts,  and  not  by 
theories  ; we  must  insist  on  adhering  to  the  teachings 
of  experiments  which  “ have  been  carried  forward  by 
careful  generalization  to  well-grounded  conclusions.” 

Value  of  Protection  during  the  War. 

As  an  offset  to  the  charge  that  free-trade  tariffs  have 
always  ended  in  panics  and  long  periods  of  financial 
distress,  the  advocates  of  free  trade  point  to  the  fact 
that  a financial  panic  of  great  severity  fell  upon  the 
country  in  1873,  when  the  protective  tariff  of  1861  was 
in  full  force,  and  that,  therefore,  panic  and  distress  fol- 
low periods  of  protection  as  well  as  periods  of  free 
trade.  It  is  true  that  a financial  panic  occurred  in 
1873,  and  its  existence  would  blunt  the  force  of  my 
argument  if  there  were  not  an  imperatively  truthful 
way  of  accounting  for  it  as  a distinct  result  from 
entirely  distinct  causes.  The  panic  of  1873  was  widely 
different  in  its  true  origin  from  those  which  I have  been 
exposing.  The  Civil  War,  which  closed  in  1865,  had 


244 


Protection. 


Does  Mr.  Gladstone  maintain  that  I am  confusing 
post  hoc  with  propter  hoc  in  these  statements  ? He 
must  show,  then,  that  the  United  States  during  the  war 
could  have  collected  a great  internal  revenue  on 
domestic  manufactures  and  products,  when  under  the 
system  of  free  trade  similar  fabrics  would  daily  have 
reached  New  York  from  Europe  to  be  sold  at  prices 
far  below  what  the  American  manufacturer,  with  the 
heavy  excise  then  levied,  could  afford  to  set  upon  his 
goods.  And  if  the  government  could  collect  little  from 
the  customs  under  free  trade,  and  nothing  from  internal 
products,  whence  could  have  been  derived  the  taxes 
to  provide  for  the  payment  of  interest  on  public  loans, 
and  what  would  have  become  of  the  public  credit  ? 
Moreover,  with  free  trade,  which  Mr.  Gladstone  holds 
to  be  always  and  under  all  circumstances  wiser  than 
protection,  we  should  have  been  compelled  to  pay 
gold  coin  for  European  fabrics,  whi'e  at  home  and 
during  the  tremendous  strain  of  the  war,  legal-tender 
paper  was  the  universal  currency.  In  other  words, 
when  the  life  of  the  country  depended  upon  the  gov- 
ernment’s ability  to  make  its  own  notes  perform  the 
function  of  money,  the  free-traders’  policy  would  have 
demanded  daily  gold  for  daily  bread. 

The  free-trader  cannot  offset  the  force  of  the  argu- 
ment by  claiming  that  the  laws  regulating  revenue  and 
trade  are,  like  municipal  laws,  silent  during  the  shock 
of  arms  ; because  the  five  closing  years — indeed,  almost 
six  years  — of  the  decade  in  which  the  Rebellion 


Protection. 


240 


tially  the  same  prices.  Does  any  free-trader  on  either 
side  of  the  ocean  honestly  believe  that  American  rails 
could  ever  have  been  furnished  as  cheaply  as  English 
rails,  except  by  the  sturdy  competition  which  the  highly 
protective  duty  of  1870  enabled  the  American  manu- 
facturers to  maintain  against  the  foreign  manufac- 
turers in  the  first  place,  and  among  American  manu- 
facturers themselves  in  the  second  place?  It  is  not 
asserted  that  during  the  nineteen  years  since  the  heavy 
duty  was  first  established  (except  during  the  past  few 
months)  American  rails  have  been  as  cheap  in  America 
as  English  rails  have  been  in  England,  but  it  is  asserted 
with  perfect  confidence  that,  steadily  and  invariably, 
American  railroad  companies  have  bought  cheaper 
rails  at  home  than  they  would  have  been  able  to  buy 
in  England  if  the  protective  duty  had  not  stimulated 
the  manufacture  of  steel  rails  in  the  United  States, 
and  if  the  resulting  competition  had  not  directly  oper- 
ated upon  the  English  market.* 


* In  1870,  only  30,000  tons  of  steel 
rail  were  manufactured  in  the  United 
States.  But  the  product  under  the 
increased  duty  of  that  year  rapidly 
increased.  The  relative  number  of 
tons  produced  in  England  and  the 
United  States  for  a period  of  twelve 
years  is  shown  as  follows  : 


England.  United  States. 

1 877  508,400  385,865 

1878  622,390  491,427 

1879  520,231  610,682 

1880  ....  732,910  852,196 

1881  ...  1,023,740  1,187,770 


F or  the  same  period,  1877-1888  inclu- 
sive, the  following  table  will  show  the 
number  of  tons  of  steel  ingots  pro- 
duced in  the  two  countries  respec- 
tively : 


England.  United  States . 

1877  750,006  500,524 

1878  .....*  807,527  653,773 

1879  834,511  829,439 

1880  1,044,382  1,074,262 

1881  1,441,719  1,374,247 


Protection. 


250 


2.  English  steel  for  locomotive  tires  imported  in 
1865,  duty  paid,  was  thirty-four  cents  per  pound  in 
gold.  The  American  competition,  under  a heavy  pro- 
tective duty,  had,  by  1872,  reduced  the  price  to  thirteen 
cents  per  pound,  duty  paid.  At  the  present  time 
(1889)  American  steel  for  locomotive  tires,  of  as  good 
quality  as  the  English  steel  formerly  imported,  is  fur- 
nished at  four  and  three-quarter  cents  per  pound,  and 
delivered  free  of  cost  at  the  point  where  the  locomo- 
tives are  manufactured.  The  lowering  of  price  was 
not  a voluntary  act  on  the  part  of  the  English  manu- 
facturer. It  was  the  direct  result  of  American  compe- 
tition under  a protective  duty — a competition  that 
could  not  have  been  successfully  inaugurated  under 
free  trade. 

3.  In  the  year  i860,  the  last  under  a free-trade  pol- 
icy, the  population  of  thirty-one  millions  in  the  United 
States  bought  carpets  to  the  amount  of  twelve  mil- 
lions of  dollars.  Nearly  half  of  the  total  amount  was 
imported.  In  1888,  with  a population  estimated  at 


England. 

United  States. 

England. 

United  States. 

1882 . . 

. . . 1,235,785 

1,284,067 

1882 

1,673,649 

1,514,687 

1883.  . 

1,148,709 

1883 

■ 1,553,380 

U 477, 345 

1884  . . 

. • • 784,96s 

996,983 

1884 

, 1,299,676 

I,375,53I 

1885.  . 

. . . 706,583 

959,471 

1885 

1,304,127 

i,5i9,43o 

1886.  . 

1,574,703 

1886 

1,570,520 

2,269, 190 

1887.  . 

2, 101,904 

1887 

2,089,403 

2,936,033 

1888.  . 

1,386,277 

1888  .... 

2,032,794 

2,511,161 

Total  in 

12  years,  9,963,454 

12,980,054 

Total  in  12  years, 

16,401,688 

18,035,622 

Under  the  protective  duty  of  1870,  the  United  States  soon  manufactured 
annually  a much  larger  quantity  of  steel  than  Great  Britain,  and  reduced  the 
price  from  $100  per  ton  in  gold  to  less  than  $35  per  ton  in  gold. 


Protection 


253 


impossible.  A very  large  proportion  of  the  railway 
enterprises  would  of  necessity  have  been  abandoned 
if  the  export  of  gold  to  pay  for  the  rails  had  been  the 
condition  precedent  to  their  construction.  But  the 
manufacture  of  steel  rails  at  home  gave  an  immense 
stimulus  to  business.  Tens  of  thousands  of  men  were 
paid  good  wages,  and  great  investments  and  great 
enrichments  followed  the  line  of  the  new  road  and 
opened  to  the  American  people  large  fields  for  enter- 
prise not  heretofore  accessible. 

I might  ask  Mr.  Gladstone  what  he  would  have 
done  with  the  labor  of  the  thousands  of  men  engaged 
in  manufacturing  rail,  if  it  had  been  judged  practicable 

nearly  or  quite  the  same  enhanced  price  which  the  duty  adds  to  the  imported 
articles .” 

I recall  this  quotation  primarily  for  two  reasons  : First , Mr.  Cleveland 
stands  without  a rival  at  the  head  of  the  free-trade  party  in  the  United  States, 
and  it  is  instructive  to  see  how  exactly  he  adopts  the  line  of  argument  used  by 
the  English  free-trader.  Second , It  is  a valuable  admission  from  the  head  of 
the  free-trade  party  when  he  affirms  that  “ comparatively  a few  of  our  people 
use  imported  articles,”  and  that  there  are  “ millions  of  our  people  who  never 
use  or  never  saw  any  of  the  foreign  products.”  In  what  words  could  the  com- 
plete success  of  the  protective  policy  in  the  United  States  be  more  fitly 
expressed  ? 

But  when  Mr.  Cleveland  asserted  that  our  people  pay  for  our  domestic  fabrics 
il  nearly  or  quite  the  same  enhanced  price  which  the  duty  adds  to  the  imported 
articles,”  he  evidently  spoke  without  investigating  facts,  and  accepted  as  true 
one  of  those  fallacious  statements  which  have  been  used  in  the  interest  of  for- 
eign importers  to  deceive  the  people.  Mr.  Cleveland’s  argument  would  have 
been  strengthened  if  he  had  given  a few  examples — nay,  if  he  had  given  one 
example — to  sustain  his  charge.  As  he  omitted  all  illustrations  of  his  position, 
I venture  to  select  a few  which  apparently  establish  the  exact  reverse  of  Mr. 
Cleveland’s  statement : 

India  rubber  goods  are  protected  by  a duty  of  25  per  cent.  ; but,  instead  of 
those  goods  being  25  per  cent,  higher  in  price  than  the  foreign  goods,  they  are, 
in  fact,  cheaper.  They  undersell  the  English  article  in  Canada  and  success* 


254 


Protection 


to  buy  the  rail  in  England  ? Fortunately  he  has  given 
his  answer  in  advance  of  the  question,  for  he  tells  us 
that  “ in  America  we  produce  more  cloth  and  more 
iron  at  high  prices,  instead  of  more  cereals  and  more 
cotton  at  low  prices.”  The  grain-growers  of  the  West 
and  the  cotton-growers  of  the  South  will  observe  that 
Mr.  Gladstone  holds  out  to  them  a cheerful  prospect ! 
They  “ should  produce  more  cereals  and  more  cotton 
at  low  prices  !”  Mr.  Gladstone  sees  that  the  protec- 
tive system  steadily  tends  to  keep  up  the  price 

fully  compete  with  Canada’s  goods,  which  are  protected  by  a duty  of  20  per 
cent. 

Patent  leather  is  subject  to  a duty  of  20  per  cent.  ; but  patent  leather  is 
not,  therefore,  20  per  cent,  higher  in  the  United  States  than  elsewhere.  On 
the  contrary,  it  is  cheaper.  Five  years  ago,  the  city  government  of  London 
advertised  for  bids  for  a large  amount  of  patent  leather  to  be  used  in  connec- 
tion with  the  uniforms  of  the  police.  There  were  bids  from  several  countries, 
but  the  lowest  bid  was  offered  by  a manufacturer  of  Newark,  N.  J.  He  secured 
the  contract,  and  furnished  the  goods  at  a fair  profit. 

Steel  rails  are  selling  in  London  for  seven  pounds  sterling  per  ton.  The  duty 
is  $15  per  ton.  The  price,  therefore,  in  the  United  States  ought  to  be,  accord- 
ing to  Mr.  Cleveland’s  doctrine,  $50  per  ton.  But  in  fact  the  price  is  but  $35 
per  ton,  and  during  the  last  summer  and  autumn  was  as  low  as  $25  per  ton, 
and  large  sales  were  made  at  $30  per  ton. 

Boots  and  shoes  are  subject  to  30  per  cent.  duty.  According  to  Mr.  Cleve- 
land, they  should  be  30  per  cent,  higher  than  the  foreign  article.  As  a matter 
of  fact,  they  are  cheaper.  American  boots  and  shoes  hold  the  Canadian  mar- 
ket against  the  European  manufacture. 

Examples  of  this  kind  could  be  shown  on  almost  the  whole  tariff  list  where 
an  American  manufacture  is  firmly  established.  In  fact,  the  whole  history  of 
pVotection  has  vindicated  what  Alexander  Hamilton  said  of  it  when  he  was  at 
the  head  of  the  Treasury  : “ The  internal  competition  which  takes  place  soon 
does  away  with  everything  like  monopoly,  and  by  degrees  reduces  the  price 
of  the  article  to  the  minimum  of  a reasonable  profit  on  the  capital  employed. 
This  accords  with  the  reason  of  the  thing  and  with  experience.”  Mr.  Hamil- 
ton thus  effectually  answers  both  Mr.  Gladstone  and  Mr.  Cleveland. 


Protection. 


257 


were  cherished  in  the  time  of  the  glorious  Georges,  in 
the  era  of  Walpole  and  the  elder  Pitt. 

I do  not  mean  to  imply  that  Mr.  Gladstone’s  words 
carry  with  them  an  approval,  even  retrospectively, 
of  this  course  toward  the  colonies,  but  there  is  a 
remarkable  similarity  to  the  old  policy  in  the  fundamen- 
tal idea  that  causes  him  in  1889  to  suggest  that  Amer- 
icans produce  “too  much  cloth  and  too  much  iron,’’ 
and  should  turn  their  labor  to  “ low-priced  cereals  and 
low-priced  cotton.”  Are  we  not  justified  in  con- 
cluding that  Mr.  Gladstone’s  theory  of  free  trade, 
in  all  its  generalizations  and  specifications,  is  fitted 
exactly  to  the  condition  of  Great  Britain,  and  that 
British  hostility  to  American  protection  finds  its  deep 
foundation  in  the  fact — to  quote  the  old  phrases — that 
“it  is  prejudicial  to  the  trade  and  manufactures  of 
Great  Britain,”  that  “ it  lessens  our  dependence  upon 
Great  Britain,”  and  that  “it  interferes  with  profits 
made  by  British  merchants  ?” 

Carrying  the  War  into  the  Enemy's  Camp. 

Mr.  Gladstone  makes  another  statement  of  great 
frankness  and  of  great  value.  Comparing  the  pur- 
suits in  the  United  States  which  require  n > protection 
with  those  that  are  protected,  he  says  : “ No  adversary 
will,  I think,  venture  upon  saying  that  the  profits  are 
larger  in  protected  than  in  unprotected  industries.'” 
This  is  very  true,  and  Mr.  Gladstone  maybe  surprised 


26o 


Protection. 


by  the  enactment  of  the  Morrill  tariff.  It  will  be  found, 
I think,  that  the  advance  of  wages  in  England  corres- 
ponds precisely  in  time,  though  not  in  degree,  with  the 
advance  in  the  United  States,  and  the  advance  in  both 
cases  was  directly  due  to  the  firm  establishment  of 
protection  in  this  country  as  a national  policy.  But  it 
must  not  be  forgotten  that  American  wages  are  still 
from  70  per  cent,  to  100  per  cent,  higher  than  British 
wages.  If  a policy  of  free  trade  should  be  adopted  in 
the  United  States,  the  reduction  of  wages  which  would 
follow  here  would  promptly  lead  to  a reduction  in  Eng- 
land. The  operatives  of  Manchester,  Leeds  and  Shef- 
field recognize  this  fact  as  clearly  as  do  the  proprietors 
who  pay  the  advanced  wages,  and  more  clearly  than  do 
certain  political  economists  who  think  the  world  of  com- 
merce and  manufactures  can  be  unerringly  directed  by 
a theory  evolved  in  a closet  without  sufficient  data,  and 
applied  to  an  inexact  science. 

Gladstone’s  Moral  Plea  Faulty. 

The  zeal  of  Mr.  Gladstone  for  free  trade  reaches  its 
highest  point  in  the  declaration  that  “ all  protection  is 
morally , as  well  as  economically,  bad.”  He  is  right  in 
making  this  his  strongest  ground  of  opposition,  if  pro- 
tection is  a question  of  morals.  But  his  assertion 
leaves  him  in  an  attitude  of  personal  inconsistency. 
There  is  protection  on  sea  as  well  as  on  land.  Indeed, 
the  most  palpable  and  effective  form  of  protection  is 


WILLIAM  M’KINLEY,  Jr. 


William  M’Kinley,  Jr.,  was  born  in  Niles,  Ohio, 
February  26,  1844.  He  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools,  and  no  better  evidence  of  the  excellence  of  the 
system  could  be  forthcoming  than  his  wonderful  finan- 
cial training.  When  only  seventeen  years  old,  on  the 
outbreak  of  the  war,  he  enlisted  as  a private  soldier  in 
the  Twenty-third  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry.  In  that 
subordinate  position  he  never  failed  to  do  his  duty, 
and  though  full  of  ambition,  he  gave  himself  up  so 
thoroughly  to  the  cause  of  his  country  that  he  won  the 
esteem  of  his  superiors,  and,  with  it,  rapid  promotion. 
He  bowed  to  discipline  that  he  might  rise  to  rulership. 
He  fought  during  the  entire  war,  refusing  to  avail 
himself  of  the  well-earned  rest  so  dear  to  the  hearts 
of  most  men.  In  September,  1865,  he  was  honorably 
mustered  out  of  the  service  with  the  full  rank  of 
captain,  in  the  regiment  he  had  joined  at  the  beginning 
of  the  war,  and  the  right  to  the  rank  of  brevet  major. 
From  1869  to  1871  he  was  prosecuting  attorney  for 
Stark  County,  Ohio,  and  his  fairness,  courage  and 
thorough  uprightness  in  that  position  gained  for  him 
the  entire  approval  of  the  public.  Though  strict  in  the 


272 


Win.  M’Kinley,  Jr. 


performance  of  his  duties,  he  made  friends  instead  of 
enemies.  The  State  of  Ohio  is  a regular  nursery  of 
statesmen,  and  whoever  would  compete  for  a public 
position  must  be  the  possessor  of  more  than  ordinary 
ability.  In  spite  of  this  fact,  William  M’Kinley,  Jr., 
has  represented  his  State  in  the  national  Legislature 
during  seven  sessions,  from  the  Forty-fifth  to  the  Fifty- 
first  Congress.  In  the  latter  session  he  introduced  the 
bill  known  by  his  name  the  world  over,  embodying 
the  most  complete  tariff  legislation  ever  brought  before 
a governing  body.  To  that  bill  he  devoted  the  most 
careful  study  and  painstaking  inquiry.  A staunch 
Republican  from  the  beginning,  he  saw  that  the 
continued  success  of  his  party  depended  upon  the 
preservation  of  those  conditions  which  have  made  the 
American  laborer  thrifty,  contented,  and  independent; 
which  have  made  his  home  the  centre  of  refinement 
and  even  luxury,  and  kept  the  bright  star  of  hope 
burning  in  the  sky  of  his  aspirations.  The  passage  of 
that  bill  was  a circumstance  of  which  any  man  might 
well  be  proud.  Through  it,  M’Kinley  has  fought  the 
battle  of  the  poor  and  come  out  gloriously  victorious, 
and  no  future  Congress  will  ever  dare  upset  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  M’Kinley  Tariff  Bill,  however  much  they 
maybemodified  to  suitthe  exigencies  of  political  parties. 
In  1890,  Mr.  M’Kinley  was  defeated  for  re-election 
to  Congress,  but  in  1891  he  became  Governor  of  Ohio, 
after  a campaign  which,  in  many  of  its  features,  resem- 
bled the  strife  between  Lincoln  and  Douglass  in 


Value  of  Protection. 


Hon.  William  M’Kinley,  Jr., 

Governor  of  Ohio. 


we  shall  have  tariffs  so  long  as  we  have  a gov- 
ernment. We  can  only  dispense  with  them  by  resort- 
ing to  direct  taxation,  and  it  is  hardly  probable  that 
the  people  of  this  country  will  ever  consent  to  that 
system  exclusively  for.raising  the  needed  revenues  of 
the  government.  Whatever  may  be  our  opinions  of 
either  a “ tariff  for  revenue  only,”  or  a tariff  for  reve- 
nue coupled  with  “protection,”  the  great  majority  of 
our  people  will  probably  always  prefer  the  one  or  the 
other  for  raising  revenue  to  taxing  directly  our  own 
products,  our  own  industries  and  our  own  people. 
The  government  inaugurated  the  tariff  system  in  its 
first  revenue  bill,  and  no  considerable  party  in  this 
country  has  ever  sought  to  change  it. 


276 


Value  of  Protection. 


In  the  discussion  of  these  theories  of  external  taxa- 
tion we  are  prone  to  forget  that  the  one  or  the  other 
is  a necessity.  No  government  can  be  administered 
without  an  assured  annual  income,  and  there  is  no  way 
of  securing  this  income  save  by  resorting  to  the  taxing 
power  conferred  upon  Congress  by  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States  It  may  be  an  evil,  but  if  so,  it  is  a 
necessary  one,  and  inseparable  from  the  existence  of 
government. 

It  requires  about  ^400,000,000  annually  to  meet  the 
fiscal  requirements  of  the  government.  That  is  the  con- 
dition which  confronts  us.  The  way  to  raise  this  money 
with  the  least  burden  upon  the  people  is  the  problem 
of  the  statesman  and  legislator.  It  would  not  do  in 
time  of  peace  to  issue  the  notes  of  the  government,  and 
thus  create  a charge  upon  the  people,  making  no  pro- 
vision for  their  payment.  It  would  not  do  to  restore 
the  internal-revenue  system  as  it  prevailed  through  the 
war  and  for  some  years  subsequent  thereto,  when  every- 
thing was  taxed — every  tool  of  trade,  every  article  of 
commerce,  every  legal  document,  every  check  or  note  or 
instrument  of  writing,  every  profession,  every  income. 
The  people  would  not  stand  that  long.  They  bore 
it  patiently  and  patriotically  under  a great  national 
necessity.  They  bore  it  that  the  government  might 
be  preserved  and  its  institutions  continued,  just  as 
they  had  borne  similar  taxation  at  two  other  periods 
of  our  history  which  were  similar  in  their  necessities. 

It  must  be  manifest,  therefore,  that  the  largest  share 
of  the  needed  income  must  be  raised  by  tariff  taxation 


Value  of  Protection. 


279 


or  a duty  upon  foreign  products,  and  at  the  same  time 
carefully  providing  that  such  duties  shall  be  on  pro- 
ducts of  foreign  growth  and  manufacture  which  com- 
pete with  like  products  of  home  growth  and  manufac- 
ture, so  that,  while  we  are  raising  all  the  revenues 
needed  by  the  government,  we  shall  do  it  with  a dis- 
criminating regard  for  our  own  people,  their  products 
and  their  employments  ? Such  a tariff  stands  as  a de- 
fence to  our  own  productions,  as  a discrimination  in 
favor  of  our  own  and  against  the  foreign,  and  as  an 
encouragement  to  productive  enterprises,  besides  se- 
curing a healthful  competition  not  only  among  our- 
selves, but  between  ourselves  and  foreign  producers, 
tending  to  prevent  combinations  and  monopolies,  and 
eventuating  in  fair  and  reasonable  prices  to  our  own 
consumers.  This  is  impossible  under  the  Democratic 
revenue-tariff  system. 

Cardinal  Manning  says  in  a recent  article  : 

If  the  great  end  of  life  were  to  multiply  yards  of  cloth  and  cotton  twist, 
and  if  the  giory  of  England  consists  or  consisted  in  multiplying  without  stint 
or  limit  these  articles  and  the  like  at  the  lowest  possible  price,  so  as  to  under- 
sell all  the  nations  of  the  world,  well,  then,  let  us  go  on.  But  if  the  domestic 
life  of  the  people  be  vital  above  all;  if  the  peace,  the  purity  of  homes,  the 
education  of  children,  the  duties  of  wives  and  mothers,  the  duties  of 
husbands  and  of  fathers,  be  written  in  the  natural  law  of  mankind,  &nd  if 
these  things  are  sacred,  far  beyond  anything  that  can  be  sold  in  the  market, 
then  I say,  if  the  hours  of  labor  resulting  from  the  unregulated  sale  of  a man’s 
strength  and  skill  shall  lead  to  the  destruction  of  domestic  life,  to  the  neglect 
of  children,  to  turning  wives  and  mothers  into  living  machines,  and  of  fathers 
and  husbands  into — what  shall  I say,  creatures  of  burden  ? — I will  not  say  any 
other  word — who  rise  up  before  the  sun,  and  come  back  when  it  is  set,  wearied 
and  able  only  to  take  food  and  lie  down  to  rest,  the  domestic  life  of  men  exists 
no  longer,  and  we  dare  not  go  on  in  this  path. 

I will  ask,  is  it  possible  for  a child  to  be  educated  who  become  a daily 
wage  earner  at  ten  or  even  twelve  years  of  age  ? Is  it  possible  for  a child  in 


\ 


28o 


Value  of  Protection. 


the  agricultural  districts  to  be  educated  who  may  be  sent  out  into  the  fields  at 
nine  ? I will  ask,  can  a woman  be  the  mother  and  head  of  a family  who 
works  sixty  hours  a week  ? You  may  know  better  than  I,  but  bear  with  me  if 
I say  I do  not  understand  how  a woman  can  train  her  children  in  the  hours 
after  they  come  home  from  school  if  she  works  all  day  in  a factory.  The  chil- 
dren come  home  at  four  and  five  in  the  afternoon  ; there  is  no  mother  in  the 
house.  I do  not  know  how  she  can  either  clothe  them,  or  train  them,  or  watch 
over  them,  when  her  time  is  given  to  labor  for  sixty  hours  a week. 

Never  was  more  truth  crowded  into  the  same  space. 
It  presents  the  situation  in  a most  striking-  manner.  If 
the  great  end  of  life  be  to  multiply  commodities  at  the 
lowest  price,  at  the  expense  of  labor,  then  the  British 
system  surpasses  ours  ; then  does  it  become  the  ideal 
system,  and  the  Democratic  party  is  wise  in  adopting 
it.  But  there  are  other  considerations  higher  and 
deeper  than  cheap  fabrics,  when  made  so  by  the  deg- 
radation of  human  labor.  We  must  take  into  account 
the  family  and  the  fireside.  We  must  have  more  con- 
cern for  the  man,  for  his  welfare,  his  improvement  and 
development,  the  enlargement  of  his  opportunities,  in- 
spiring him  to  greater  effort  in  the  confidence  of  in- 
creasing rewards.  These  conditions  will  ultimately  se- 
cure cheaper  commodities,  not  through  harsh  and 
unnatural  exactions  placed  upon  labor,  but  through 
that  skill  and  craft  and  invention  which  are  the  sure 
outcome  of  intelligent,  thoughtful,  independent  and 
well-paid  labor. 

The  mind  will  not  invent,  will  not  discover,  new  and 
better  and  more  economical  processes  and  methods  of 
production  if  the  body  is  used,  as  a mere  “ creature 
of  burden.”  If  the  body  is  enslaved,  the  mind  cannot 
be  free. 


284 


Value  of  Protection. 


doctrine  of  protection  in  the  colonies.  In  his  new 
work  he  now  adds  that 

since  that  time  the  whole  of  the  self-governing  colonies  of  Great  Britain,  except 
New  South  Wales  and  the  Cape  (South  Africa),  have  become  protectionist, 
while  the  Cape  has  heavy  duties  upon  most  goods,  put  on,  however,  mainly  for 
revenue  purposes,  but  now  beginning  to  give  rise  to  a growth  of  protectionist 
opinion ; and  in  New  South  Wales  the  free-traders  hold  their  own  only  by  a 
bare  majority. 

Sir  Charles  further  says  that  it  cannot  be  denied  that 
the  effect  in  the  provinces  of  the  Victorian  protective 
system  has  been  to  enable  the  colony  to  gradually 
supply  its  wants  with  a better  class  of  home-made 
goods,  instead  of  importing  them. 

Speaking  of  Canada,  he  says:  “There  can  be  but 
little  doubt  about  the  general  popularity  of  the  protec- 
tive system  in  Canada,  and  Sir  John  Macdonald’s  long 
possession  of  power  has  been  facilitated  by  his  adop- 
tion of  the  so-called  national  policy,”  which,  on  Sir 
Charles  Dilke’s  own  admission,  “has  caused  Canadian 
manufacturers  to  win  the  greater  portion  of  the  Cana- 
dian market and  he  also  states  that  the  wealth  of 
Canada  has  been  more  rapid  since  the  adoption  of  the 
protectionist  policy  than  before. 

On  the  1 2th  of  May,  1887,  in  the  Commons,  Sir 
Charles  Tupper,  in  speaking  of  a previous  period  in 
the  history  of  Canada  under  free  trade,  said: 

When  the  languishing  industries  of  Canada  embarrassed  the  finance  minis- 
ter of  that  day,  when,  instead  of  large  surplus,  large  deficits  succeeded  year 
after  year,  the  opposition  urged  upon  that  honorable  gentleman  that  he  should 
endeavor  to  give  increased  protection  to  the  industries  of  Canada,  which  would 
prevent  them  from  thus  languishing  and  being  destroyed.  We  were  not  suc- 
cessful,—I will  not  say  in  leading  the  honorable  gentleman  himself  to  the  con- 
clusion that  what  would  be  a sound  policy,  for  I have  some  reason  to  believe 


Value  of  Protection 


285 


that  he  had  many  a misgiving  on  that  question, — but,  at  all  events,  we  were 
not  able  to  change  the  policy  of  the  gentleman  who  then  ruled  the  destinies  of 
Canada.  As  is  well  known,  that  became  the  great  issue  at  the  subsequent 
general  election  of  1878,  and  the  Conservative  party  being  returned  to  power, 
pledged  to  promote  and  foster  the  industries  of  Canada  as  far  as  they  were  able, 
brought  down  a policy  through  the  hands  of  my  honored  predecessor,  Sir 
Leonard  Tilley,  . . . and  I have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  the  success  of 

that  policy,  thus  propounded  and  matured  from  time  to  time,  has  been  such  as 
to  command  the  support  and  confidence  of  a large  portion  of  the  people  of  this 
country  down  to  the  present  day. 

In  Germany,  so  long  ago  as  the  14th  of  May,  1882, 
Bismarck,  in  a speech  before  the  German  Reichstag, 
paid  to  the  Republican  tariff  high  eulogy.  He  said: 

The  success  of  the  United  States  in  material  development  is  the  most  illus- 
trious of  modern  time.  The  American  nation  has  not  only  successfully  borne 
and  suppressed  the  most  gigantic  and  expensive  war  of  all  history,  but  im- 
mediately afterward  disbanded  its  army,  found  employment  for  all  its  soldiers 
and  marines,  paid  off  most  of  its  debt,  given  labor  and  homes  to  all  the  unem- 
ployed of  Europe  as  fast  as  they  could  arrive  within  its  territory,  and  still  by  a 
system  of  taxation  so  indirect  as  not  to  be  perceived,  much  less  felt.  Because 
it  is  my  deliberate  judgment  that  th  d prosperity  of  America  is  mainly  due  to  its 
system  of  protective  laws,  I urge  that  Germany  has  now  reached  that  point 
where  it  is  necessary  to  imitate  the  tariff  system  of  the  United  States. 

Mulhall,  the  great  London  statistician,  states  that  in 
i860  our  total  wealth  was  estimated  at  $16,000,000,- 
000 ; it  is  now  estimated  at  over  $60,000,000,000.  In 
1882  the  same  authority  estimated  the  total  wealth  of 
Great  Britain  at  $40,640,000,000.  Mr.  Mulhall  sets 
forth  our  development  and  progress  in  these  forcible 
words : 

It  would  be  impossible  to  find  in  history  a parallel  to  the  progress  of  the 
United  States  in  the  last  ten  years.  Every  day  that  the  sun  rises  upon  the  Amer- 
ican people  it  sees  an  addition  of  two  and  one-half  million  dollars  to  the 
accumulation  of  wealth  in  the  Republic,  which  is  equal  to  one-third  of  the  daily 
accumulation  of  all  mankind  outside  the  United  States. 

It  is  said  that  under  the  Republican  policy  exporta- 
tions have  been  diminished,  and  our  foreign  trade 


THE  FREE  COINAGE 
OF  SILVER. 


There  is  no  question  more  pertinent  just  now  than 
this:  “What  effect  will  the  free  coinage  of  silver  have 
on  the  vast  majority  of  the  population  ?”  Silver  is  of 
more  ancient  use  as  coin  than  gold,  and  has  certainly 
been  “current  money  with  the  merchant”  for  over 
four  thousand  years.  Norway  and  Sweden  possess 
within  their  bounds,  the  most  famous  mines  in  the  Old 
World.  At  one  time  Mexico  produced  two-thirds  ot 
the  metal  in  use.  A single  lump,  weighingfour  thou- 
sand pounds  and  valued  at  $68,149,  was  on  exhibition 
in  the  Mexican  Department,  at  the  Centennial,  in  1876. 
At  present,  the  greatest  silver  mines  of  the  world  are 
within  the  territories  of  the  United  States.  The  supply 
in  Colorado  and  Nevada  alone  being  supposedly  inex- 
haustible. It  comes  to  the  mints  in  various  forms — 
either  as  pig  bars,  worn  coin,  old  plate  and  articles  of 
jewelry,  not  omitting  figures  of  saints  and  other  sacred 
relics.  All,  however,  go  into  the  furnace  together,  and 
become  money  when  legally  stamped.  There  are  two 
kinds  of  money,  namely,  absolute  and  relative.  Gold 


The  Free  Coinage  of  Silver. 


and  silver  are  absolute  money,  carrying  a certain  value 
with  them  apart  from  that  given  by  law.  Notes,  checks, 
greenbacks,  are  only  relative  money  of  no  intrinsic 
value,  but  depending  for  value  upon  the  solvency  and 
conscience  of  the  redeeming  power.  It  must  be 
remembered  then,  that  gold  and  silver  have  each  a 
commercial  value  that  no  law  can  fix — save  those  of 
trade — and  no  stamp  of  government  can  permanently 
raise  or  lower.  Thus,  if  there  should  be  a great 
demand  for  gold  in  the  arts,  its  value  must  rise,  pro- 
vided production  was  not  greatly  increased  to  meet  the 
greater  demand,  in  spite  of  the  inscription  upon  the 
metal  calling  it  a dollar,  a half-eagle,  or  an  eagle. 
Oddly  enough,  the  production  of  gold  remains  almost 
even  year  by  year ; that  is,  when  compared  with  the 
out-put  of  silver.  All  that  has  been  said  of  gold  applies 
with  equal  truth  to  silver.  It  will  always  be  worth  more 
or  less  than  the  denomination  of  the  stamp  which  makes 
it  money.  Of  late  years  its  production  has  been  enor- 
mously increased ; in  fact,  out  of  all  due  proportion 
to  its  demand  for  artistic  and  even  monetary  use.  The 
United  States  government  has  been  buying  $4,500,000 
of  silver  bullion  monthly,  which,  or  a great  part  of 
which,  is  still  piled  in  the  Treasury  vaults.  The  actual 
coinage  of  silver  has  exceeded  $29,000,000  a year, 
which,  at  the  beginning  of  1890,  meant  over  $360, 
000,000  of  silver  money  coined.  During  that  time 
the  relative  value  of  silver  to  gold  had  become  as  1 
to  16.  Since  1819,  England  has  adhered  strictly  to 


Tlie  F'ree  Coinage  of  Silver. 


the  gold  standard  or  mono-metallic  system.  The  rea- 
sons advanced  for  this  are  easily  recounted.  The  advo- 
cates of  gold  say  that  there  is  a constant  liability  to 
fluctuations  in  value,  and  it  is  much  better  that,  to 
secure  unity,  there  should  be  one  standard,  and  that  stand- 
ard should  be  gold  ; and  the  argument  brought  for- 
ward is,  that  silver,  being  so  bulky,  is  hardly  a fit  arti- 
cle for  commerce,  and  that  the  lightness  of  gold  should 
prove  it  much  more  suitable.  They  also  adduce  the 
general  tendency  among  nations  to  adopt  the  gold 
standard,  as  also  that  the  general  growth  of  the  use 
of  checks,  notes  and  bills  of  exchange  has  made  gold 
an  all-sufficient  metal.  Gold  is,  however,  as  subject  to 
fluctuation  in  value  as  silver,  and,  being  a commercial 
article,  cannot  be  arbitrarily  governed  by  civil  laws. 
The  argument  on  the  other  side,  or  that  of  bi-metallic 
standard,  is  no  less  easily  set  forth.  If  gold  be  in 
value  as  1 6 to  i of  silver,  it  is  certain  that  the  free  coin- 
age of  silver  would  drive  out  gold,  as  the  silver  dollar 
would  be  thus  reduced  to  a value  of  between  70  and 
80  cents,  and  as  foreign  nations  are  constantly  coin- 
ing silver,  they  would  buy  our  gold  and  thus  denude 
us  of  the  more  precious  metal.  This  will  naturally 
cause  the  currency  to  shrink  over  20  per  cent.  Now, 
who  will  suffer  from  this  ? Certainly  not  the  rich  or 
those  who  are  interested  in  great  financial  affairs,  for 
they  will  take  care  ; yes,  and  are  even  now  arranging 
that  all  pledges  shall  be  for  gold.  These  men  cannot 
be  blamed.  Self-preservation  is  the  first  law  of  nature  ; 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON 


George  Washington,  the  first  President  of  the 
United*  States,  was  born  in  Westmoreland  County, 
Va.,  February  22,  1732.  His  ancestors  were  of  the 
landed  gentry  of  Northamptonshire,  England.  His 
great-grandfather  was  commander  of  the  troops  sent 
by  the  colonial  government  to  punish  the  Seneca  In- 
dians. It  is  thus  seen  that  his  family  was  early  rooted 
in  America.  He  received  a careful  home-training,  and 
attended  two  local  schools,  but  was  never  a classical 
scholar.  The  whole  bent  of  his  mind  was  practical ; 
when  a mere  boy  he  surveyed  the  vast  property  of 
Lord  Fairfax,  through  whom  he  obtained  the  position 
of  Public  Surveyor.  Many  of  his  surveys  are  on 
record,  and  even  at  this  day  are  models  of  exactness. 
He  pursued  this  profession  for  three  years.  When 
Washington  was  nineteen  years  of  age,  the  colony  was 
divided  into  military  districts,  and  he  was  given,  by 
Governor  Robert  Dinwiddie,  the  position  of  Adjutant- 
General  with  the  rank  of  Major,  being  the  youngest 
officer  of  that  rank  in  the  colonies.  He  soon  made 
himself  conversant  with  military  affairs.  October  30, 

1 75 3,  he  was  sent  by  Governor  Dinwiddie  as  com- 
missioner to  the  French  commander  on  the  fork  of  the 


292 


George  'Washington. 


Ohio  River.  He  performed  his  mission  loyally,  though 
it  entailed  great  suffering  and  danger  from  both 
French  and  Indians.  April  2,  1754,  he  was  made 
Lieutenant-Colonel,  and  took  part  in  the  disastrous 
campaign  against  the  French  and  their  Indian  allies, 
which  ended  in  the  surrender  of  Fort  Necessity.  The 
next  year  we  find  him  on  General  Braddock’s  staff,  and 
had  his  advice  been  followed,  that  General  would 
probably  have  been  spared  the  disastrous  defeat  which 
cost  him  his  life.  Washington  really  saved  the 
remainder  of  the  army  from  annihilation.  In  1759  he 
married  Mrs.  Martha  Curtis,  a lady  of  rare  personal 
charm  and  solid  mental  endowments.  He  was  for 
some  time  a member  of  the  Virginia  Assembly,  and 
took  part  in  the  first  Colonial  Congress,  winning 
golden  opinions  by  his  steadiness  and  loyal  faith. 
While  still  a member  of  the  Continental  Congress,  the 
battle  of  Lexington  took  place,  April  19,  1775,  and 
Washington  was  chosen  as  the  Commander-in-Chief  of 
the  forces  engaged  against  Great  Britain.  He  hurried 
to  Boston,  forced  the  British  to  evacuate  that  city,  and 
from  that  time  until  the  close  of  the  war  at  Yorktown, 
he  presented  the  spectacle  of  a commander  unwearied 
by  defeat,  not  elated  by  victory,  unmoved  by  calumny, 
unspoiled  by  flattery  ; at  once  a gentleman,  a hero, 
a patriot,  a Christian,  and  a modest  man.  It  was  only 
natural  that  Washington  should  be  called  to  govern 
the  nation  he  had  so  nobly  aided  to  create,  and  on 
the  30th  of  April,  1789,  he  was  inaugurated  as  the  first 


JOHN  ADAMS. 


John  Adams,  second  President  of  the  United  States, 
was  born  at  Braintree,  Mass.,  October  30,  1735.  His 
ancestor  emigrated  to  this  country  in  1632,  so  that  the 
family  had  been  settled  in  America  one  hundred  and 
two  years  when  John  Adams  was  born.  In  1751,  he 
entered  Harvard  College,  from  which  he  graduated 
in  1755.  He  taught  school,  and  studied  law  in  the 
office  of  Mr.  Putnam,  afterwards  a general  in  the 
Revolutionary  War.  He  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in 
1758,  and  soon  won  fame  as  an  astute  and  honorable 
member  of  the  legal  profession.  So  greatly  was  his 
power  appreciated  that  Governor  Barnard  offered  him 
the  position  of  Advocate  General  in  the  Admiralty 
court.  He  first  became  distinguished  politically  by 
his  vigorous  opposition  to  the  Stamp  Act,  in  1765, 
when  his  ringing  resolutions  became  the  Massachu- 
setts creed  of  liberty.  In  1774,  he  was  sent  by  Massa- 
chusetts to  the  Congress  in  Philadelphia,  and  so 
strongly  urged  separation  from  the  mother  country 
that  he  was  chosen,  with  Jefferson,  to  draught  the 
Declaration  of  Independence.  His  patriotism  led  him 
to  decline  the  office  of  Chief  Justice,  which  was  offered 


296 


John  Adams. 


to  him  in  1 776,  preferring  to  serve  his  country  in  a 
more  direct  and  drastic  fashion. 

John  Adams  may  fitly  be  called  the  father  of  the 
American  navy,  as  December  29,  1775,  he  was 
appointed  by  Massachusetts,  in  conjunction  with  John 
Palmer,  to  arrange  for  the  fitting  out  of  armed  ves- 
sels.  In  1777,  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  commis- 
sioners to  France,  his  companions  being  Franklin  and 
Deane.  He  remained  in  Paris  eighteen  months,  and 
December,  1779,  he  was  sent  as  plenipotentiary  to 
treat  for  peace  and  arrange  a commercial  treaty  with 
Great  Britain.  Though  balked  in  his  first  aim,  he  suc- 
ceeded in  forming  a commercial  and  defensive  treaty 
with  Holland.  John  Adams  was  the  first  minister  sent 
by  this  country  to  Great  Britain  after  the  Revolution. 
He  succeeded  in  winning  the  personal  regard  of 
George  III.  and  the  respect  of  his  court,  as  well  as  the 
approval  of  the  American  government,  by  his  firm 
and  yet  gracious  demeanor,  and  the  sterling  patriotism 
he  evinced.  On  his  return  to  America,  he  was  elected 
Vice-President  of  the  United  States  and,  upon  the 
refusal  of  Washington  to  accept  a third  term,  he  was 
chosen  President  and  inaugurated  March  4,  1797. 
June  15th,  President  Adams,  by  proclamation,  sum- 
moned Congress  to  meet,  in  consequence  of  the  alarm- 
ing relations  existing  between  this  country  and  France, 
and  his  firm  attitude,  combined  with  the  unanimous 
support  of  all  political  parties,  did  much  to  hasten  the 
settlement  of  the  difficulties  with  the  truculent  directory, 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON. 


Thomas  Jefferson,  third  President  of  the  United 
States,  was  born  at  Shadwell,  Albemarle  County, 
Virginia,  April  2,  1743.  His  ancestry  was  Welsh, 
but  his  branch  of  the  family  had  been  settled  in  Amer- 
ica for  at  least  three  generations.  At  the  early  age 
of  nine  he  began  the  study  of  Latin,  Greek  and  French, 
and  continued  his  studies,  under  able  masters,  until  his 
seventeenth  year,  when  he  was  admitted  to  William 
and  Mary  College,  where  he  remained  for  two  years. 
He  then  took  up  the  study  of  law  in  the  office  of  a Mr. 
Wyeth,  who  introduced  the  young  student  to  Gov- 
ernor Farquier  and  other  notable  persons,  whose  con- 
versation aided  in  forming;  his  mind.  He  was  admitted 
to  the  Bar  in  1767,  and  filled  the  office  of  Justice 
of  the  Peace  for  seven  years.  When  twenty-six  years 
old  he  was  elected  a member  of  the  Virginia  House  of 
Burgesses,  and  soon  took  an  active  part  against  Great 
Britain.  As  Washington  was  the  sword , Jefferson 
was  the  pen  of  the  American  Revolution.  When  in 
1772,  Lord  Bottetourt  dissolved  the  Assembly  in  con- 
sequence of  its  resolution  sustaining  Rhode  Island  in 


3°° 


Thomas  Jefferson, 


its  resistance  to  British  tyranny,  Jefferson,  with  Wash- 
ington, Lee  and  others,  passed  resolutions  at  the  old 
Raleigh  Tavern,  in  Williamsburg,  pledging  themselves 
to  use  no  article  imported  from  England.  Jefferson 
also  led  in  the  establishment  of  Committees  of  Cor- 
respondence between  the  colonies,  which  resulted  in 
the  first  Continental  Congress.  Though  not  elected 
to  its  first  session,  he  was,  upon  the  retirement  of  Pey- 
ton Randolpl  sent  to  represent  the  Virginia  House, 
June  21,  1775.  He  was  the  author  of  the  Declaration 
of  Independence,  a document  only  third  in  importance 
to  the  Ten  Commandments  and  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount.  Jefferson  remained  in  Congress  until  Sep- 
tember 2,  1776,  when  he  returned  to  Virginia  to  take 
his  seat  in  the  Legislature.  In  1779,  Jefferson  became 
Governor  of  Virginia.  The  war  had  been  in  progress 
three  years,  and  the  State  was  much  harried  by  Corn- 
wallis, Arnold,  and  Tarleton  ; the  latter  nearly  captured 
the  person  of  Jefferson.  As  governor,  he  worked  hand- 
in-glove  with  Washington,  though  his  administration 
was  very  severely  criticised.  In  the  winter  of  1783, 
Jefferson  was  again  in  Congress,  and  in  July,  1784, 
we  find  him  in  Paris,  acting  as  plenipotentiary.  Jeffer- 
son was  very  popular  as  Minister  to  France,  and  while 
there  did  much  to  benefit  American  commerce.  In 
March,  1790,  President  Washington  selected  Jefferson 
as  Secretary  of  State.  He  represented  the  doctrines 
of  State  Rights  and  decentralization  in  the  Cabinet  in 
opposition  to  Washington  and  Hamilton.  His  attitude 


JAMES  MADISON. 


James  Madison,  fourth  President  of  the  United 
States,  was  born  in  King  George  County,  Virginia, 
March  1 6,  1751.  At  the  age  of  twenty  years  he  grad- 
uated at  Princeton,  N.  J.,  and  began  the  study  of  law. 
After  having  spent  nearly  three  years  in  the  Virginia 
Convention,  he  was  elected  to  Congress,  in  1779.  In 
1784,  in  conjunction  with  Mr.  Jefferson,  he  did  good 
work  in  the  Virginia  Legislature  in  placing  all  religious 
denominations  on  an  equal  plane  before  the  law. 
Madison’s  motion  in  the  Virginia  Legislature,  in  1785, 
led  to  the  meeting  at  Annapolis,  and  ultimately  to  the 
constitutional  convention,  held  in  Philadelphia,  in  May, 
1787.  His  able  representations  to  the  assembled  del- 
egates led  to  the  establishment  of  a national  govern- 
ment instead  of  the  loose  confederacy  of  States,  which 
had  before  existed.  In  the  Virginia  Convention,  Mad- 
ison most  ably  defended  his  views  on  government 
against  such  able  opponents  as  Patrick  Henry  and 
George  Mason.  This  was  the  crowning  triumph  of 
his  life. 

Madison  was  most  strenuous  in  his  advocacy  of  pre- 
senting a bold  front  to  the  claims  of  Great  Britain. 


3°4 


James  Madison. 


He  opposed  all  amicable  measures  relating  to  the 
former  enemy  of  the  country,  and  advocated  a close 
association  with  France,  the  ally  of  the  United  States. 
He  bitterly  opposed  the  Alien  and  Sedition  laws,  in 
1798,  and  was  the  author  of  the  Virginia  Resolutions, 
opposing  them.  He  acted  as  Secretary  of  State  under 
Jefferson,  and  sturdily  opposed  the  efforts  of  foreign 
nations  to  draw  the  United  States  from  their  neutral 
position.  In  1809,  Madison  was  elected  President,  and 
his  administration  of  eight  years  was  full  of  storm  and 
disquiet.  In  18 11,  the*  Shawnees  and  other  Indians 
became  unruly,  and  September  26th,  a body  of  troops, 
under  General  Harrison,  afterwards  President,  set  out 
to  chastise  them,  and  performed  that  duty  most  thor- 
oughly. June  18,  1812,  war  was  declared  against 
Great  Britain,  which  continued,  with  varying  success, 
until  the  Peace  of  Ghent,  December  24,  1814.  In  this 
war  the  fighting  qualities  of  the  American  navy  were 
splendidly  demonstrated,  and  the  result  of  the  war 
was  practically,  though  not  nominally,  in  favor  of  the 
United  States — all  that  they  contended  for  being  practi- 
cally granted,  or  quietly  buried,  never  to  be  revived. 
Under  this  administration,  Louisiana  and  Indiana  were 
admitted  to  the  Union.  A short  war  with  the  Creek 
Indians  ended,  March  27,  1814,  almost  in  the  annihila- 
tion of  the  tribe  ; General  Jackson  commanded  against 
them.  During  the  war  with  the  British,  the  city  of 
Washington  was  taken  and  burned,  August  23,  1814; 
the  library  and  public  documents  were  destroyed  in 


JAMES  MONROE. 


James  Monroe,  fifth  President  of  the  United  States, 
was  born  in  Westmoreland  County,  Virginia,  April  28, 
1758.  He  came  of  an  old  Scotch  family  of  cavaliers, 
one  of  his  ancestors  having  served  under  Charles  I. 
in  the  Parliamentary  wars.  In  1776,  he  left  his 
studies  in  the  college  of  William  and  Mary  to  join  the 
Continental  army,  with  which  he  served  until  the  close 
of  the  war.  He  never  rose  to  high  rank,  but  wap 
conspicuous  for  personal  bravery  on  more  than  one 
occasion.  He  was  badly  wounded  at  the  battle  of 
Trenton.  He  served  as  Major  under  Lord  Sterling, 
the  highest  military  rank  to  which  he  attained.  In 
1.780,  he  began  to  study  law  under  Jefferson,  and  his 
association  with  that  great  bulwark  of  the  Common- 
wealth must  have  had  much  to  do  with  his  after  career. 
From  1782  to  1786,  he  served  in  the  State  Legisla- 
ture of  Virginia  and  also  in  Congress  ; after  which 
he  resumed  the  study  of  law  until  again  elected  to 
the  Legislature.  He  opposed  the  acceptance  of 
the  Federal  Constitution  in  the  Virginia  Convention, 
and  thus  stood  in  direct  opposition  to  Madison  and 
other  notables.  In  1790,  he  was  elected  United  States 


308 


James  Monroe. 


Senator,  and  stood  boldly  for  States  rights  as 
opposed  to  centralization.  Washington  sent  him  as 
Minister  to  France  in  1794,  and  he  won  golden 
opinions  from  that  government  because  of  his  deep 
interest  in  the  French  Republic;  he  carried  this  a little 
too  far,  however,  and  was  recalled  in  1796,  it  being 
felt  in  Washington  that  a more  conservative  person 
could  better  represent  the  policy  of  the  government. 
Fie  was  chosen  Governor  of  Virginia  in  1799,  and 
was  twice  re-elected.  His  soldierly  frankness  and 
openness  won  the  hearts  of  the  people.  He  was  one 
of  the  commissioners  chosen  to  negotiate  the  purchase 
of  New  Orleans  from  the  French,  and  enlarged  his 
commission  by  the  purchase  of  the  whole  of  Louisiana. 
He  was  next  sent  as  Minister  to  England,  and,  in  1804, 
attempted  to  negotiate  the  purchase  of  the  Floridas 
from  Spain,  but  failed.  He  had  not  much  better  success 
in  a treaty  negotiated  with  England  the  next  year,  as 
President  Jefferson  refused  to  submit  it  to  the  Senate 
on  the  ground  that  it  did  not  cover  the  impressment 
of  American  seamen  for  the  British  navy.  On  his  re- 
turn from  England,  he  was  again  elected  to  the  Virginia 
Legislature  and  next  became  Governor  of  the  State. 
From  this  he  was  called  into  the  Cabinet  of  President 
Madison,  in  which  he  held  the  office  of  Secretary  of 
State.  He  became  Minister  of  War  in  1814,  and  in  the 
autumn  of  1816,  he  was  again  elected  President  of  the 
United  States.  Under  this  administration,  Mississippi, 
Illinois,  Alabama,  Maine,  and  Missouri  were  admitted  to 


3 i 5 • o4e  l a/h\J 


JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS. 


John  Quincy  Adams,  sixth  President  of  the  United 
States,  was  born  at  Braintree,  Mass.,  July  n,  1767. 
He  was  a son  of  John  Adams,  and  accompanied  his 
father  to  Europe,  spending  his  earlier  years  at  the 
capitals  of  France,  Holland,  and  England.  Few  lads 
have  enjoyed  such  splendid  educational  privileges,  for 
his  father  was  not  alone  a statesman  but  a conscien- 
tious parent,  who  devoted  himself  to  the  cultivation  of 
the  mind  of  his  young  charge.  In  1 780,  Adams  entered 
the  University  of  Leyden,  and  when  only  fifteen  years 
of  age  accompanied  the  Minister  of  the  United  States 
to  St.  Petersburg  in  the  capacity  of  Secretary.  He 
graduated  from  Harvard  College  in  1788,  took  up  the 
study  of  law  and  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  1791. 
Adams  developed  into  a political  writer  of  great  ability 
and  used  his  exceptional  early  advantages  in  a measure 
to  attract  the  attention  of  the  thinking  men  of  the 
country,  Washington  among  the  number.  The  latter 
appointed  him  as  Minister  to  the  Hague  in  1794.  He 
was  sent  as  Ambassador  to  Prussia  by  his  father,  but 
having  been  recalled  by  Jefferson,  returned  to  the  prac- 
tice of  law  in  Boston.  He  served  in  the  Massachusetts 


312 


John  Quincy  Adams. 


Senate  and  was  also  elected  to  Congress,  where  he 
voted  with  the  Federalists  for  some  time,  but  sustained 
Jefferson’s  Embargo,  and  thus  lost  influence.  He  held 
the  position  of  professor  of  rhetoric  and  belles  lettres  in 
Harvard  for  three  years.  He  was  a very  graceful  writer, 
a finished  debater,  and  on  occasion  did  not  disdain  the 
Muse.  Madison  made  him  Ambassador  to  St.  Peters- 
burg in  1809,  and  when  war  broke  out  with  Great 
Britain,  Adams  influenced  the  Czar  to  offer  mediation, 
which,  however,  was  not  accepted  by  the  English. 
He,  with  Russell  and  Clay,  signed  the  Treaty  of  Ghent, 
December  24,  1814,  on  behalf  of  the  United  States. 
From  1815  to  1817  he  served  as  Minister  to  London, 
and  upon  his  return  to  America,  became  Secretary  of 
State  under  Madison.  In  1825,  he  was  elected  Presi- 
dent by  the  House  of  Representatives,  as  the  popular 
vote  had  been  indecisive.  His  administration  was 
marked  by  the  union  of  the  loose  Constructionists  in 
a national  Republican  party,  which  was  ultimately 
known  as  the  Whig  party.  They  preserved  the  tenets 
of  the  Federalists,  and  advocated  a high  protective 
tariff  and  the  use  of  the  government  money  for  inter- 
nal improvements.  Their  opponents,  first  known  as 
Jackson  men,  assumed  the  name  of  Democrats,  by 
which  they  have  since  been  known.  They  advocated 
tariff  for  revenue  only,  and  opposed  centralization. 
President  Adams  met  with  the  fiercest  opposition  in 
Congress  ; in  fact,  the  administration  was,  excepting 
one  session,  in  the  minority.  The  most  important 


ANDREW  JACKSON. 


Andrew  Jackson,  seventh  President  of  the  United 
States,  was  born  in  Union  County,  Waxham  Settlement, 
North  Carolina,  March  15,1 767.  His  earlier  years  were 
spent  in  a struggle  with  hardship  and  poverty,  but  this, 
doubtless,  toughened  the  fibre  of  the  man  and  fitted 
him  for  the  stern  scenes  in  which  he  was  to  participate. 
When  little  over  thirteen  years  of  age,  he  ran  away  to 
the  army  and  was,  with  his  brother,  taken  prisoner  by 
the  English,  who  soon,  however,  released  the  boys, 
not  deeming  it  very  heroic  to  make  war  on  children. 
His  schooling  was  very  slight  indeed,  but  his  keen 
intelligence  and  indomitable  pluck  stood  him  in  good 
stead.  He  studied  law  at  Salisbury,  North  Carolina, 
and  was  admitted  to  practice  at  Nashville,  Tennessee. 
He  represented  that  State  in  Congress  in  1796,  and 
was  chosen  Senator  in  1797.  In  Congress  he  stead- 
fastly opposed  George  Washington  and  contracted  a 
lasting  friendship  with  Aaron  Burr,  being  one  of  his 
sturdiest  advocates  when  that  erratic  politician  was  on 
trial  for  conspiracy.  In  1806,  Jackson  killed  Charles 
Dixon  in  a duel.  In  1813,  as  Major-General  of 
militia,  Jackson  commanded  in  the  war  with  the  Creek 


316 


Andrew  Jackson. 


Indians  of  Georgia  and  Alabama.  He  defeated  them 
in  several  sanguinary  battles,  and  the  27th  of  March, 
1814,  he  captured  their  stronghold  at  Horse  Shoe 
Bend,  on  the  Tallapoosa  River.  He  made  a treaty  of 
peace  with  the  Creeks  in  August,  1814.  In  May, 
1814,  he  was  commissioned  as  Major-General  in  the 
regular  army,  to  serve  against  the  British.  He  cap- 
tured Pensacola,  an  important  British  station,  and 
won  immortal  glory  by  his  overwhelming  defeat  of  the 
British  at  New  Orleans,  January  8,  1815.  • The  Amer- 
ican loss  was  only  seven  men  killed  and  six  wounded, 
while  the  English  lost  seven  hundred  killed,  fourteen 
hundred  wounded,  and  five  hundred  prisoners.  Jack- 
son  administered  martial  law  in  New  Orleans  so  rigidly 
that  after  the  peace  he  was  fined  $ 1000  for  contempt 
of  court,  which  fine  Congress  subsequently  remitted 
and  returned  to  him  with  interest.  He  commanded 
in  the  war  against  the  Seminole  Indians  of  Florida  and 
brought  it  to  a successful  termination  in  the  spring  of 
1818.  His  harsh  methods  during  the  campaign 
brought  him  into  difficulties  with  Congress,  but  he  did 
not  seem  to  learn  caution,  for,  on  being  appointed 
Military  Governor  of  Florida,  in  1821,  he  defied  the 
civil  courts  again  and  would  have  been  severely  cen- 
sured had  not  John  Quincy  Adams  stood  as  his  friend. 
Jackson  was  inaugurated  President  of  the  United 
States  March  4,  1829,  and  held  the  reins  of  power  until 
1837.  Early  in  1831  a rupture  occurred  between 
President  Jackson  and  John  C.  Calhoun,  the  Vice- 


Immediately  after  tlie  Convention  at  Chicago  which  meets 
June  21st,  we  will  issue  a book  containing  the  lives  of  tlie  Democratic 
Nominees  for  President  and  Yice-President  of  the  United  States  ; together 
with  both  sides  of  the  question  “Free  Trade  and  Protection.”  Free 


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